“We serve too!”: Everyday militarism of children of US service members

Abstract

There are 2 million United States military–attached children worldwide; however, the US government does not track the data of those who commit suicide. Military children’s daily lives are affected by the everyday and slow violence of constantly preparing for war. This article conducts a critical content analysis of family resiliency resources and children’s books to highlight the ongoing need for structural change. We conclude with recommendations on how to best address the specific needs of military-attached children.

A scoping review of military and Veteran families within international suicidality and suicide prevention research

“…Family belonging or relationship quality amongst parents and children were not explored. These may be areas for future research, as in Canada more children than spouses make up military family members ( Manser, 2020 ) and it is estimated that there are more than two million military-connected children worldwide ( Frain and Frain, 2020 ). Furthermore, the intergenerational impacts of suicide are well known, with evidence suggesting that higher rates of adverse childhood events predict future suicidality ( Clements-Nolle et al, 2020 ; Mann et al, 2005 ).…”

Children, military families and soldier citizenship

“…Yet, children of all ages told us that 'teachers don't understand' the impacts of deployment and that their friends were unable to empathise with them. This interview points to a common coping strategy of 'putting on a brave face', 'acting like nothing is wrong when there obviously is' or simply refusing to talk about it (Frain and Frain 2020). This could cause tension, as one girl reported: 'friends start to get annoyed because you may be too distraught to talk about it'.…”

“…Beier and Tabak (2020) suggest that modalities of war affect daily lives of children and youth far from conflict zones (see also Kelley, 2002;Lincoln et al 2008;Hogg et al 2014). Studies have shown that "there are significant and enduring adverse effects of parental deployment on the mental health of children in military families" (Forrest et al 2018(Forrest et al : 1060 leading to some children experiencing sadness, depression, parental attachment difficulties, sleep disturbances and suicidal ideation (Frain and Frain, 2020). Just as the civilian 'military wife' is a political subjectprecarious and vulnerable, forged in relation to power (Enloe 2000) -the civilian 'military child' is often perceived as either heroic or vulnerable in relation to military activities and geopolitical events.…”

“…This is perhaps surprising as feminist geography has also drawn attention to the significant, yet often unheard and disempowered, lives of children (Aitken 2018). Such work is especially important as there is evidence that military children need support (which often they do not get), especially during periods of re-deployment, combat, parental separation and post-conflict stress (De Pedro et al, 2011, Merriman et al, 2017Frain and Frain, 2020).…”

Complex spaces of involvement during and after paternal deployment: Danish children’s emotions and relationships with their fathers

“…However, when these studies document the effects of deployment on children, they tend to present children as passive and do not explore children’s experiences of deployment. Thus, in order to better understand how fathers’ deployment influences children’s emotional lives, it is necessary to supplement such studies with qualitative research exploring deployment as a process , focusing on how family relationships are mediated by paternal deployment (but see Frain and Frain, 2020). Drawing on a Danish qualitative study of 26 children from 19 families with fathers deployed before they were born or during their childhood, we explore these children’s emotions in relation to their fathers during and after deployment.…”