Military children are often referred to as “Brats” but in reality, they can be well rounded, easily adaptable kids who grow to be great adults.
There are many reasons why these kids could certainly turn out to be brats. If you look closely, it’s actually both the positive and the negative parts of the military lifestyle that could encourage bad behavior or character traits, so it’s easily understandable that this is how they come across. It should be noted, however, that the good and the bad equally affect these children and shape the adults they become.
On the positive side, they are sometimes perceived as being privileged or having benefits that their civilian child counterparts do not. An example of this is that they move around a lot due to their service member’s orders, and sometimes need to have special provisions made in order for teachers to gather grades and allow them to finish school early or move on to the next grade. This creates the ability to reinvent themselves and leave the past behind when changing schools or moving into new neighborhoods. For example, a teenager can get into trouble at one duty station and move on, turning over a new leaf, and he now gets a shot at redemption. Free medical care is another example of a military benefit that civilian children do not enjoy. Additionally, on most bases or posts, everything from entertainment to food at the commissary can be bought at a discounted price compared to what it would cost on the local economy.
Military children can also enjoy the benefit of extensive travel. Not only do they travel through different states during a change of station, if the service member serves an entire career, they will have lived in many different states and experienced different parts of the country. The benefit of this is that later, as adults, they can have friends all over the country to visit, and sometimes,