Mentor program helps military children
2/17/2012
For the children of deployed soldiers, it may seem like nobody understands what they're going through. The uncertainty of not knowing if a loved one is OK coupled with the absence of a parent can be quite a burden. In an effort to make life a bit easier for the kids of military families, the U.S. Department of Justice gave out $20 million in grants last fall to create mentoring programs - and they're proving to be successful, according to USA Today.
Among the organizations that received a portion of the funds was Big Brothers Big Sisters. The venerable charity took a $3 million cut and is planning on expanding its operations in 21 cities. Additionally, it has started a program that matches youngsters who have a deployed parent with mentors who have gone through the same thing.
That was the case for 11-year-old Samantha Webb, whose father is currently serving in Kuwait. She had been struggling with nightmares and was fighting with her brothers, but she started spending time with 16-year-old BriAnna Kruzel, whose father spent time in Iraq, and things started to get better.
"There are very few kids who know what it's like to have someone deployed," Samantha's mother, Amanda Webb, told the publication. "She bottles it in. She has always had a tough time when [her dad] was deployed."
Big Brothers Big Sisters is not the only organization dedicated to providing support for the children of soldiers, however. In fact, the USO recently wrapped up its With You All the Way tour, during which it visited Department of Defense Education Activity Schools in the Pacific. During the tour, author and illustrator Trevor Romain visited with 14,000 children stationed in Hawaii, Guam, Japan and Korea.
"For some, just knowing that there are other kids out there going through the same thing as them can be so comforting," said Romain.
Recent research from the National Military Family Association shed some light on exactly what challenges are facing the country's military children. The RAND-conducted survey of 1,500 military children found that around one-third of them experience anxiety - a higher rate than that of the general population of kids.
