New website developed to help military teens cope

Carol Forsloff - It can be difficult for military families with a parent serving far away, especially in the Middle East wars, and a new website has been developed to help teens.  

Teenagers often go through emotional crises during teen years and the stress of a parent in the military can make that worse.  So someone has developed a website to help. 

Vernessa Neu, a military wife and mother, has launched a new interactive website specifically for military teens, who have a unique lifestyle and face a unique set of challenges.  

 

"I founded www.MilitaryTeenOnline.com to provide a valuable resource to the teens in the military community," Neu explained. "There seemed to be a lot more resources geared towards active duty members and military spouses, and there are a few resources for younger children. However, I didn't find any websites created specifically for teenagers in military families.MilitaryTeenOnline.com was created to help bridge the gap for military teens."

There are approximately 1.4 million active duty members of the U.S. military, and an additional 848,000 members of the reserves. Many of those military members include families with teenagers, and a lot of these teenagers face the challenges that come with frequent moves and one or both parents who must be away from home for long periods of time.

It can sometimes be an isolating and lonely experience for teenagers to change schools and move to new towns - but thanks to Neu's website, it doesn't have to be.

"As my family prepares for each move, my teen daughter scours the Internet in search of information about her new school, teen clubs, and new neighborhood," Neu explained. "It is rare that she finds information from a teen's point of view. With that in mind, I launched www.MilitaryTeenOnline.com to allow military teens to interact and exchange information regardless of where their parents are stationed."

 

MilitaryTeenOnline.com offers military teens a support network and is a great way for teens to express themselves, share their experiences and gain from the experiences of other military teens. The site provides many opportunities for teens to connect, including chatting on the military teen forum which is part of their "Our Network" feature, blogging, and writing original articles which are published on the website for other teens to read. 

 

With the Military Teen Online website, teenagers can easily keep in touch with their friends even after they move. The site also offers moving tips, homework help, college and scholarship information, games, and a poetry corner.

In addition, each month the website will feature a different military teen, giving everyone an opportunity to share their story and accomplishments, and to inspire others.

The website is designed for teens who parents serve in the Armed Forces and has its intent to develop a peer support network to help young people cope with the problems of worries over parents serving overseas while at the same time trying to adjust to just being a teen.