Personal Narrative Analysis

We all know the brave men and women that defend our country, we all know that the cost of freedom isn't free. We know that every day we lose more and more brave souls. We think of all these stupendous people who love their country so much that they will defend it with their lives.
What most people do not think of is the family behind the scene who loves them deeply, most importantly, the children.

Whether the child was born into a military lifestyle or was introduced at a young age every child will go through an oblivion phase. Whether that is because they are young and can't fully grasp what is happening or they are too new to that scene, they will all go through a period of being oblivious to the situation. Some children may be aware younger
and older than some others but that depends on the child.

In the meantime a young child may move around, they may also have one parent at the time, for maybe the other is deployed, or away for training. Many children go closer to family members when at a young age for a parent missing. Young children may start to show signs of separation anxiety or through tempers more frequently. According to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs, " School-age children may experience a decline in academic performance and have mood changes or physical complaints. Adolescents may become angry and act out, or withdraw and show signs of apathy."

There will be a time though those children seem to be awakened to what is happening, a toddler may start to notice that someone is missing, or a school age child might start to wonder why there father or mother isn't around. Some adults may not see the powerful effect it has, a child may be confused, or angry, over the lack of understanding, which can greatly affect a child's behavior.

A child may even start to say why, why isn't my mom or dad here, why? This also puts stress on the parents or family to help a child understand. It isn't a simple task to do, depending on a child's age it can be a tricky topic to explain, especially dealing with the topics of moving and deployment. It may take some time before a child or adolescence to understand.

Moving affects a child deeply, more than we think, no child enjoys moving every year to two years, no child enjoys leaving everything they love and starting over, constantly. Adolescents are one of the biggest victims of it. Adolescents may become anti-social or depressed, they may lack confidence as well. It isn't the easiest task starting over from the beginning for the second time in less than two years. From expectations, I can understand these effects.

This is also a major problem because of the rise of depression it also leads to a greater chance of suicide or substance abuse.
The children who grew up in a military lifestyle will always carry long-term effects, which they will carry through adulthood. These effects can have many positives just as they may have many negatives.

These children can go one way or another, it depends on the person. They may want a more settled lifestyle as adults or one with more adventures like their childhood. They may even want to fall into their parent's footsteps or raise awareness for them and the children behind them, for they lived it. Some may crave adventure and would prefer to be everywhere, just like some may prefer to be stable. The possibilities are endless on what they might do or act.

Out of all the military children I spoke to and my own personal experiences, one of the best things to come out of the military lifestyle is all of the positive memories they made on the way.

In conclusion, though military lifestyle can be hard on families there are a lot of benefits, you can travel a lot of places you've seen, adventures and stories that will stay with you forever. It is important though to be understanding of these children and to offer the proper care and resources, to ensure the proper mental heath for the soldiers and that family behind those brave
souls.