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Proposal

The rate of our soldiers having families is increasing. A study taken by Sloan Work and Family in 2009, 43.2% of the Active Duty force and 43.1% of the Selected Reserves has one or more children. This is almost half of our Soldiers, that have a least one child at home, missing their Dad or Mom who is away from then for long periods of a time. With numbers like this there needs to be more places that children can turn, especially in places like Utah, where there might not be to many military families, since there is not an Army Base. The places that there are that are already existing, need to get the word at more so parents will know.

With how high the numbers are with soldiers having kids, and the emotional and behavioral problems that are proven to come with a parent leaving for war, there needs to be solutions. Sometimes counseling just isn’t enough, I mean who wants to talk to a counselor who knows nothing about the situation you are in, it just isn’t enough, especially for a child. We need programs to help these children. They need to be with other children who can relate to exactly what they are going through. They need to make friends with kids who are going through the same thing as them.

There are programs out there, it is just finding what the program is, where it is, and how your kids can get involved.

 

The Problem

Children of military families have significantly more emotional and behavioral problems than then non-military children in all age groups according to this study. In the research, for only anxiety, 30% of the military children endorsed clinical levels of anxiety. In contrast, the rates of anxiety problems in these age groups among the general US population are closer to 10%. That is almost a 20% increase(NTCSN).

  • Kids are lonely.
  • Kids feel like no one understands
  • Kids are scared
  • Kids don’t know what is going on, they are confused

 

The Proposal – “Army Brats Matter”

There needs to be a program that Military Children can go to so that they can feel like they are involved and beat the odds of becoming the statistic listed above. They deserve just as much as a chance as any other kid. They need to realize it is okay to be scared and that there parent is a hero. I have come up with a program that I am going to call “Army Brats Matter Too”. I want this program on every military base or around every National Guard unit.

MILITARY BRATS MATTER

  1. Sports- Soccer camps, Basketball camps, small football camps, and dance classes. All of these classes and camps will have a set schedule that they child must commit to. If they are staying at the dorms for the week, they must be able to get themselves there on time. Giving them this responsibility will help them learn and will make them feel important.
  2. Craft Classes- A room with unlimited supplies of crafting tools and paper.  Kids can make welcome home posters for their soldier. They will have markers, crayons, puff paints, stickers, bright poster boards, etc.
  3. Movie theater- A room where kids can just get popcorn and sit and watch a movie they like on bean bags with their new friends.
  4. Homework room (if school is in)-A room with several computers and desks in order for the children to keep their school work up to date.
  5. Swimming lessons-Teaching the children how to swim, they must master this before they are allowed to get in the pool alone.
  6. Swimming pool with lifeguard-Slides and fun activities to do in the pool.
  7. Quite room- Can write letters and take naps if they want too.
  8. Counselors- If by their chose they want to talk to one.

The longer this program runs and the more volunteers that volunteer, we can add more activities. The main idea is to be able to let the friends make friends that are going through the same things as them, so there is going to be a lot of group activities. 

  • Kids are in charge of what they want to do.
  • Child picks the activity that they want to do.
  • Free of cost to the military families.
  • One week program or one weekend program.
  • Can come as many times as they want.
  • Can come for the day or spend the night (if over the age of 10), there is dorm with adult advisors in each dorm.
  • Cafeteria like meals(cost for meals, like school lunch)

 

 

 The Cost

For this we will need a building built. It needs to be like a rec center with dorms connects on the side. The adult workers working here will be strictly volunteers and some parents or the spouses of military soldier. Getting each center supplied with everything it needs will be costly, but after everything is set up it won’t be as bad. There will be lot of donations supplied, and the government has programs set up to help build and support the funding of this center. The soldiers give so much to our country, now it is time to give back to them and their families.

“Military Children and Families.” NCTSN. NCTSN, n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2011. http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/military-children-and-families.

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