Posted on 06/08/2006 5:31:14 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Army News Service, June 8, 2006) – A new DVD aimed at reducing deployment stress for military teenagers is scheduled to be released worldwide this month.
The 30-minute DVD, called “Teens Coping With Military Deployment – How’s Your Family Doing?,” addresses a variety of teen deployment-related concerns, including fear of injury or death, anxiety brought about by changes in the home and coping mechanisms for dealing with the absence of a parent.
A mix of personal life experience and concern for fellow Soldiers and their families inspired Maj. Keith Lemmon to create the DVD.
“I deployed to Afghanistan (in 2002), and while I had my concerns, I thought my family would cope with my absence fairly well,” said Lemmon, an adolescent medicine specialist in training at Brooke Army Medical Center.
A pediatrician with a wife experienced in the education field, Lemmon figured his family was well equipped to recognize signs of deployment-related depression and stress and, therefore, better able to handle the effects.
“But it soon became apparent that no one is immune,” he said. During his deployment absence, his wife struggled with situational depression and his 4-year-old son was irritable and acted out.
“I was concerned; if deployment affected us this significantly with all our strengths, what might others be facing?” Lemmon said.
Shortly after his return, Lemmon became interested in the affects of deployment on families. He discovered projects in the works for other age groups, including a DVD called “Mr. Po & Friends” for 6- to 12-year-olds and a preschool DVD by Sesame Street in the early stages of development.
“But there was nothing for adolescents,” Lemmon said. “We decided to concentrate our efforts on that age group since there was nothing out there to address their mental-health issues in relation to deployments.
“Our goal was to reduce the anxiety and fear surrounding a military deployment, and to let teens know they are not alone in the struggles their families are facing,” he said.
A DVD made sense, Lemmon said, as it would grab the attention of a TV- and computer-driven generation.
For funds, Lemmon enlisted the help of his fellowship program director, Col. Elisabeth M. Stafford, military child health and wellness expert, and applied for a $20,000 grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics – successfully.
The grant proposal included a plan to address the affects of deployment on adolescents – develop a DVD and Web site, create a training curriculum and offer civilian health care providers training so they could better screen for deployment stress.
Lemmon’s first step in implementing his comprehensive teen plan was to create the DVD. He decided to make the DVD “peer to peer, with teenagers relating their own deployment-related stories and offering advice.
“We know adolescents are more comfortable discussing these kinds of emotional issues with each other rather than adults,” Lemmon said.
Last summer, Lemmon visited Operation Purple, a summer camp for children of deployed service members, in New Hampshire to interview adolescents for the DVD. Lemmon said he was surprised that teens were so eager to discuss the various emotions surrounding their family deployment stories.
“I asked children about the affects of deployment — What are you most worried about? Did your families prepare you? Did the military offer helpful support? I ended up with about nine hours of video which we edited down to 30 minutes,” he said.
The final product features various teenagers touched by deployment talking about their experiences and lessons learned, some tearfully and others with regret.
“Since he’s been gone … I cared a lot less because I didn’t have anyone to push me to do better,” said Tyler, one teen featured in the DVD. “I ended up starting out the school year being an A-plus student, and by the end of the school year I was getting Cs and Ds.”
Other teens expressed worry for their deployed parent, particularly in light of media attention surrounding the war.
“It’s horrible what you hear on the news; it’s like, oh, in Iraq there’s another bombing. You’re just like, please don’t let it be (where) my dad is,” Victoria said.
Teens on the DVD advise others to listen to the deployed parent rather than the media or to avoid the news altogether. They also encouraged others facing the same issues to speak to someone, whether a family member, friend or a trusted adult such as a teacher or their doctor.
“Don’t keep your emotions bottled up, let it all out and talk to people, people who had their (parent) deployed, and ask them for advice and what to do and what not to do,” said James.
“Kids say the darndest things,” Lemmon said. “They offered a lot of sound advice that I was not expecting. I think many adolescents will benefit from this DVD.”
The DVD is scheduled to be released near the end of June and will be available at the American Academy of Pediatrics Deployment Support Web site at www.aap.org/sections/unifserv/deployment/index.htm, along with instructions on how to obtain a copy of the DVD.
(Editor’s note: Elaine Wilson writes for the Fort Sam Houston Public Information Office.)
This may be an Army site but it offer some help for the other military services on FR.
There are only two sorts fit for war: the reckless and the
rest.
It's a good thing our beloved media encourages these families and makes them feel appreciated.
Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?
BTTT
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