The Military Child within the Public School Education System

The impact of the war on the schooling of students from military families remains largely unrecognized within civilian public school settings. Yet recent studies have shown that supportive school environments can potentially serve as a protective factor that shields students from depression, conduct problems, feelings of alienation, anxiety, and school failure (Astor, Benbenishty, & Estrada, 2009; Comer, 1996; Dryfoos, 1995; Garbarino, 1995). Civilian teachers, principals, and school support personnel, however, have never been systematically trained at the pre-service university level to understand and appropriately respond to the intense experiences of children with deployed parents. In the absence of better preparation of personnel in schools on issues specific to military families, studies show that military students are at increased risk of school violence, substance use, suicide, and dropout (Chandra, Martin, Hawkins, & Richardson, 2010; Gorman, Eide, & Hisle-Gorman, 2010; Lester, Peterson, Reeves, & Knauss, 2010; Mansfield, Kaufman, Engel, & Gaynes, 2011; Mmari, Roche, Sudhinaraset, & Blum, 2009).