The report ‘Grown Up Children from Armed Forces Families: Reflections on Experiences of Childhood and Education’ by Ann Chappell, Ellen McHugh, Christopher Ince and Mamoon Bhuyan investigates the experiences of ‘grown-up’ children from armed forces families. It aims to gather their reflections on childhood and education and seeks their advice to inform the current armed forces community, policymakers, and practitioners
The aims of the project were to:
- Investigate how childhood and education were experienced and understood by ‘grown up’ children from the diverse community of armed forces families, and their perceptions of the impact of their experiences;
- Seek the advice of the ‘grown up’ children to understand what they think is important for the current children and those who work with them;
- Use the knowledge generated by research with the ‘grown up’ children to inform policies and practices for families, schools, armed forces charities, and government to better support current children from armed forces families.
Some recommendations include the following issues:
- There should be greater acknowledgment of what can be gained from talking to ‘grown up children’ from armed forces families to inform policy and practice to better support current children from armed forces families.
- Schools should continue to be supported in developing the awareness of all staff in identifying and recognising the challenges for children who are part of an armed forces family, including the issues that come with high levels of mobility, and how this presents both unique opportunities and challenges.
- Wider policy development should be informed by the broadest range of knowledge and evidence to ensure that decision-making is fit for purpose and sufficiently nuanced to take account of the nature and impact of the experiences.
- The Ministry of Defence and armed forces should ensure that they work in ways that support the children in armed forces families both during the time the parent/guardian is serving, and through their multiple transition points including those out of the armed forces community.
- That support, including allocated finance, should be consistent for all armed forces children and those who support them across the four home nations, regardless of where they are located.
- Organisations consider implementing mentoring programmes that make use of the experiences and wisdom of the ‘grown up children’ as mentors to support others who have had similar experiences.
- The definition and terminology used in relation to the children from the armed forces community(ies) should take account of the diverse experiences outlined within this research and the life-long nature of the impact.
Learn more and read the report: Link
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