Help for Children Dealing with Military Divorce
Military families possibly make more sacrifices than almost any other segment of the nation’s population. The children of these parents may experience even more confusion when their parents are facing a military divorce simply because they may already feel disconnected from other family members, especially if they have moved frequently due to base transfers. However, there may be some help for these children coming to one of the installations in Utah. It is important to keep in mind, though, that no one program can help resolve all of the issues involved in a divorce.
Through an outreach of the Sesame Street organization, along with a partnership with the USO, the popular children’s characters are touring several of the bases throughout the nation over the next year or so. The program was put together to reach out to the children of the armed forces. Many of the well-loved characters are being used in a new production that features a girl character that is learning to cope with the issues that many of these children face.
One of the topics that the Cookie Monster crowd will address is divorce in the military family. While children in the civilian population also experience this life change, the ones in the military may feel more isolated simply because they often move around and may not have close ties to extended family. The Sesame Workshop attempts to help these children develop coping skills that can enable them to deal with these situations in healthy ways.
In addition to traveling around the country to visit the children where they are, the program is free. There may be many base families that will attend these workshops that help children develop the tools to handle issues such as a military divorce with a positive approach. The decision to file for a divorce is most likely not entered into without careful consideration for all of the ways life will change, both for the couple and their offspring. Now, for some of the military families in Utah, there may be some help for the younger children in the form of beloved characters that may help them with the transitions that follow divorce. There are also resources available that parents may turn to for information concerning how to settle all of the matters that are part and parcel of a family break-up.
Source: dodlive.mil, “Sesame Workshop: Coming to a Base Near You“, Glenn Selby, May 16, 2014
