The last episode of our podcast series SQUAD is out now. In the final episode we look back on the series and pick out some of the highlights to discuss with two experts; Louise, the founder of our charity and Tamzin Messeter, Educational Psychologist.
In this episode the focus is on four key areas: stress, the realisation of the reality of their parent’s work in the military, the impact of deployment on the family and education. The format is different from other episodes as it brings together the teenagers discussion and offers some advice and tools that can be used to help with the unique challenges that they face.
Louise, founder of the charity said, “It has been fascinating and a real privilege to listen to the teens talking about their military journey through SQUAD. In many cases talking to each other brought out things that were a surprise to them and their parents when they listened after. So much came out in each episode we wanted to look back and pull out the key themes. I could relate to so much of the discussion and it was fascinating to hear the psychological theory behind some of the thoughts and feelings that were shared.”
Our SQUAD podcast series as funded by the Armed Forces Covenant as part of the Little Troopers at School project. The series which has already been downloaded over 850 times, features lots of military teenagers talking about their experiences of growing up in the military community. Across the episodes we spoke to 15 teens who all had a different story to tell, but found comfort in speaking to others who understand.
The series was Presented by TV & radio broadcaster and mental health ambassador, Katie Thistleton and Leicester Tigers rugby star, Thom Smith – who’s Dad still serves in the Royal Air Force – the eight-episode weekly podcast is the first of its kind to hand over the microphone to military teens.Louise adds, “SQUAD is fascinating for everyone as it explores, first hand, the impact of a parent working in the Armed Forces on the families at home, In the long term we hope that it will become a teacher training resource. Our Education Psychologist is currently developing four worksheets that will accompany the series.”
You can listen to all of the episodes here on our website.
