Can your agent help you plan a move that is good for your children?

If you have been looking for my blog this week, you probably figured out that I had a traumatic move. The blame goes to a certain internet domain registry that will remain nameless for now. I apologize to you for any inconvenience.

 

More to the point, today I write about moving house and home. Adults hate it, as I wrote last week. Children can have a much harder time of it. According to the U.S. Census Mobility Report, more than eight million children between the ages of one to fourteen move or are relocated by their family on an annual basis in the United States.

Help for children in regard to moving comes from an unexpected source. Johnnie Johnson, a former Rams All-Pro safety now  serves as President and CEO of World Class Coaches.  Johnson has launched a national program designed to help children and their families deal with the difficulties of moving. The program, called Moving Families Initiative, connects moving families with REALTORS® to take a proactive approach on the physical and emotional strain kids face when changing neighborhoods and schools.

 “Millions of children move with their families every year, but the emotional and physical strain of changing schools, neighborhoods and friends is rarely addressed,“ said Johnson.  “The Moving Families Initiative aims to alleviate the stress that inevitably comes with moving.  It’s important that kids develop the behavioral skills to thrive socially and emotionally in a new climate.”

 I took a look at the website for Moving Families Initiative. I find their bibliography fascinating. More promising, here is some materials they sent me as advertizing. It has a lot of common sense, plus a promise of more.

Challenges that kids face when moving:

·        Sense of loss and separation from people, places and things, coupled with the frustration and anger that comes with not having the emotional maturity to adjust to this loss.

·        For young children, the normal process of separation can be interfered with, causing them to return to a more dependent relationship with their parents.

·        Susceptibility to a wide range of emotions: depression, loneliness, anger, changes in appetite, social withdrawal, irritability, sleep disturbances, fear, all from the stress associated with loss and interruption.

·        Interruptions/disruptions in schedules, routines, friendships, and not having the maturity to deal with this and what they miss.

·        Insensitive parents who may not understand children’s sense of powerlessness and the absence of a sense of safety. These parents need resources to help them and these children needs parents to normalize things and make sense of their feelings.

·        A misunderstanding that the chaos and frustration that their parents exhibit is their fault.

·        Confusion, stress and anger if they have not been successful in making new friends.

·        The "new kid" syndrome that can bring on bullying or being bullied.

·        Falling grades and adjustment to changes in curriculum. There are often negative effects on learning.

·        Post traumatic stress disorder in rare cases when accompanied by other changes in the child's life such as death or divorce.

It is a good idea for Realtors® to have some tricks up their sleeve to help parents plan a move for their children. I have a background in counseling and education, so I understand child development. However, many of my peers lack that training. I think many would benefit from a program like this. I will consider it when it gets to Massachusetts.