New Website for Military Youth!

January 25, 2012 3:51 PM

Author: Dr. Pam Murphy is a child psychologist at the National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2).

Worried about your kids coping with your deployment? The good news is many military youth handle a parent’s deployment with amazing resiliency and strength. Even so, increased stress, lots of anxiety, and more responsibilities due to a parent being gone can really add up. A new Department of Defense website, MilitaryKidsConnect.org, has just been launched to help these youth cope with the deployment of a parent.

Developed by a team of psychologists and software designers, MilitaryKidsConnect.org has it all. To start with, youth ages 6 to 17 can choose the track that most closely fits their age and interests. They are welcomed to a vibrant, engaging bulletin board where they can select videos to watch, games to play, or activities to complete. There’s an interactive world map where they can learn about countries with frequent U.S. deployments. You could even look at it together before or after you deploy. Kids (and at-home caregivers) especially love to see the weather and time in the country where you’ll be deployed!

Many military youth report a sense of isolation or feeling as if others don’t understand the challenge of having a parent deployed. On MilitaryKidsConnect.org, youth can connect to other military kids who “tell their story” through videos, a storybook for younger children, and even posting on a message board for older users. Parents and educators can find information to help them understand the unique challenges for these kids and ways to offer support.

So check out MilitaryKidsConnect.org today, and then tell your kids about it!

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Real Warriors www.realwarriors.net The Real Warriors Campaign is an initiative launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) to promote the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration of returning service members, veterans and their families.	Brainline Military www.brainlinemilitary.org Living with traumatic brain injury (TBI): help for service members, veterans, national guard, reserve, and families.	My Healthevet www.myhealth.va.gov Sesame Street Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect and Family Connections are multimedia initiative that guides military families through multiple challenges, such as deployments, homecomings, and changes that occur when a parent comes home.	National Center for PTSD www.ptsd.va.gov The National Center for PTSD is a center of excellence for research and education on the prevention, understanding, and treatment of PTSD. 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Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress www.centerforthestudyoftraumaticstress.org The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) is dedicated to advancing trauma-informed knowledge, leadership and methodologies. The Center’s work addresses a wide scope of trauma exposure from the consequences of combat, operations other than war, terrorism, natural and human-made disasters, and public health threats. CSTS is a part of Uniformed Services University (USU), and its Department of Psychiatry, as well as a partnering center of the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.	Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center www.dvbic.org The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) serves active duty military, their beneficiaries, and veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) through state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative clinical research initiatives and educational programs. DVBIC fulfills this mission through ongoing collaboration with military, VA and civilian health partners, local communities, families and individuals with TBI. DVBIC is a component center of the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.	National Intrepid Center of Excellence www.dcoe.health.mil The National Intrepid Center of Excellence is an advanced facility dedicated to the research, diagnosis and treatment of military personnel and Veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health challenges.	U.S. Department of Defense www.defense.gov The mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. The DoD engages in war-fighting, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, disaster relief, and homeland security. The Department is currently headed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and is headquartered at the Pentagon.	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