Volume_4_Issue_2_Digest

TPC D igest 19 Revolving Doors: The Impact of Multiple School Transitions on Military Children – DIGEST S. Beth Ruff Michael A. Keim S. Beth Ruff is a school counselor at Bright Star Elementary School in Douglasville, GA, and a doctoral student at the University of West Georgia. Michael A. Keim, NCC, is an Assistant Professor of Professional Counseling at the University of West Georgia. Correspondence can be addressed to S. Beth Ruff, Bright Star Elementary School, 6300 John West Road, Douglasville, GA 30134, Beth.ruff@douglas.k12.ga.us. A pproximately 1.85 million school- age children have one or both parents serving in the U.S. military, and 90% of these children attend public schools that are not sponsored by the Department of Defense. On average, military children move three times more often than their civilian peers, relocating every 1–4 years. As such, relocation becomes a consistent stressor in the lives of military fami- lies, and it may negatively impact students’ ability to make friends, to succeed academi- cally, and to receive the support they need. School-age military children are especially vulnerable to the stress related to frequent transitions, as they must simultaneously cope with normal developmental stressors such as puberty, establishing peer relationships, con- flict in parent/child relationships, and increased academic demands. The emotional stress of relocation could be further complicated if the military parent is deployed or at risk of being deployed. These additional stressors in con- junction with multiple school transitions can affect the children’s adaption to new school environments, both positively and negatively. Multiple school transitions experienced by military children can negatively impact the stu- dents’ social, emotional and academic success. These challenges include tension at home and parental deployment, slow transfer of records and differences in curriculum between schools, adapting to a new school environment and making new friends, limited access to extracur- ricular activities, and a lack of understanding of military culture among school teachers and staff. Almost all of these stressors are related to school environment. School culture, poli-