MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A child’s time separated from a parent during a deployment is always challenging. To ease this hardship, Camp Pendleton’s Family Readiness Center offers help for children to cope with the cycles of deployment.
“Warrior Kids Workshop” is a new three-part program for children ages 5-12 that is designed to help them deal with various deployment issues.
The three phases are designed to last throughout a parent’s time away. They are titled “Kids and Deployment,” “Kids in the Midst,” and “Kids and Reunion,” which respectively focuses on expressing emotion, staying connected and preparing for the parent’s return.
“The goal of Warrior Kids is to promote strong military families through skill building activities and exercises,” said Tom Babayan, trainer, Families OverComing Under Stress project, Camp Pendleton.
During the Kids and Deployment phase, the group of children meets for the first time. At this gathering, FOCUS, a resiliency-building program designed for Navy and Marine Corps families, attends to address the impact multiple deployments, combat stress and high operational tempo has on children and families.
The second course, Kids in the Midst, is designed to help children stay connected with their parents throughout the deployment. It includes one-on-one sessions with a trainer, where they discuss specific feelings regarding their parent’s absence and ways to cope with these issues.
The third part of the workshop, Kids and Reunion, is intended to help prepare the children for their parent’s return by discussing things to expect due to the long separation. They also make gifts for the returning parent, such as homecoming posters and cards.
This workshop creates an opportunity for the children to share stories with each other, which provides them with a sense of camaraderie, said Michele Chamberlin, Readiness and Deployment Support Trainer, Family Readiness Center.
Although Warrior Kids focuses on children, the program gives attention to the non-deployed parents that accompany the child. The parents attend sessions with Readiness and Deployment Support trainers, separate from the children’s activities, to discuss ways of coping with their children’s behaviors throughout their spouse’s deployment.
“While we sit with parents, the children implement what they’ve learned throughout the course,” said Chamberlin. “At the end, we bring the parents and children back together to share their gained knowledge.”
Due to the positive turnout, Marine Corps Family Team Building is already scheduling new courses for 2011.
“Every parent wants the best for their child,” said Chamberlin. “They didn’t choose this lifestyle, so it’s our job to make sure they’re able to withstand daily routines with an absent parent.”
For more information on registering for the workshop, contact Michele Chamberlin at 760-725-9052. For more information on the FOCUS project, call 760-621-4533.