This is the news release that the CHAMPS organization put out and a response I wrote. I have only posted this on brat sites and have yet to send it out. I would prefer this go out as a news release or can be used to draft one from someone with some teeth in the community. Look at this and tell me what you think please Donna Musil: BETHESDA, MD, November 24, 2014 – Operation CHAMPS, a nonprofit organization that provides free babysitting services to families of wounded warriors and other military and veteran families, defended itself today against a spate of harsh, unfair and incorrect assertions on social media that Operation CHAMPS was trying to supplant or undercut the widely used term BRATS to describe the children of military and veteran families. “CHAMP” stands for Child Heroes Attached to Military Personnel. The acronym was coined in the popular children’s book The Little CHAMPS, which extols the virtues of military life and spotlights challenges children face in military families. Sales of The Little CHAMPS book help cover the costs of programs, training and overhead of the nonprofit organization Operation CHAMPS. (operationchamps.org). In recent weeks, Operation CHAMPS’ Facebook pages, Twitter and email accounts have been barraged by accusations that Operation CHAMPS was trying to substitute “CHAMPS” for the widely used term “BRATS” in public discourse as a way to describe the children of those who serve in the United States military. Jennifer Fink, CEO of Operation CHAMPS, called those assertions “unfounded, uninformed and untrue.” “The members of Operation CHAMPS understand that many children of military and veteran families proudly call themselves BRATS. We also understand that many people in the civilian and military-connected communities see the term brat in a less favorable light,” Fink added. “Neither the book, The Little CHAMPS, nor the organization it supports, Operation CHAMPS, intend in any way to replace BRATS as a term in wide usage or to demean the term in the minds of the public or the people who proudly call themselves military BRATS. The acronym CHAMPS in no way rejects or denigrates the term BRATS. Operation CHAMPS exists to provide necessary support and gratitude for military-connected children and their families.” My response I am preparing to send: One of the problems with modern technology is, when you try to send a false message, your digital trail follows you. The mantra quoted by Debbie Fink frequently in written statements and interviews goes like this: The word brat originated from an acronym that dates back to the British Empire, originally standing for British Regiment Attached Traveler. “We declared our independence 236 years ago and it’s about time our Little C.H.A.M.P.S did the same,” Fink said in the article on the USO page. “There’s no need to give them a label that may add to their already challenging situation. Why not call them what they are? Little C.H.A.M.P.S!” So with that said, any premise that you support the term BRAT in any way shape or form vanishes. Your website, facebook page and all your literature pound the acronym C.H.A.M.P.S. like it was a religious mantra. The very few times BRAT is mentioned, it is done so in a condescending manner. The very obvious, intentional exclusion of the term BRAT from your program is obvious to even the casual observer. Your program asserts that it is designed to assist civilian schools in understanding military children. With that thought in mind, it escapes many of us why just military children in overseas schools were targeted for your rather transparent indoctrination program to plant C.H.A.M.P. in their collective identity, while intentionally excluding the term BRAT. The term C.H.A.M.P in and of itself has met with far more dislike that you like to ascribe to the term BRAT. Although the reasons are legion, two stand out. First, the term is a manufactured acronym. The origin of the term BRAT isnt clear, and that really doesnt matter. Some people subscribe to your explanation, but without your obvious animosity. Many have constructed their own definition of it as an acronym. Many dont consider it an acronym at all. Regardless of its origin, it has been embraced for decades as a term of endearment with a rich history and culture. Your manufactured acronym, well intentioned as it may be, comes across to many like a day old stale sandwich. Secondly, the word hero grates on many people, especially those in the military. It is an overused, self aggrandizing term. Real heroes never use it, as they are generally some of the most humble people you will ever meet. Military children dont, and should not see themselves as heroes. They see their parents as heroes, and that is as it should be. Until you grasp that fundamental concept, you dont understand the military child. To those of us who have been military children, and have raised them ourselves, assigning that term to a child, and having them identify themselves as such, is seen as an exercise in stupidity of monumental proportions. You think military children are misunderstood in civilian schools now? Having them trot that title out to their new friends is bully bait on an epic scale. They want to belong, not be revered. So with all that said, please show me where the proud heritage of the military BRAT is preserved within your program. Show me where it is even mentioned anywhere, except for one passage in your book, that it isnt disparaged and dismissed as antiquated and needing to be thrown off like a yoke. This is a world of actions, not words. Regardless of what you say, people see what you do. What you do in your program is exclude the BRAT community and attempt to cut off many generations of military children from their proud heritage as surely as a chainsaw cuts a limb from a tree. The very willful, intended exclusion of the term and its proud heritage from your program serve as an indictment in and of itself. As long as you deny the obvious and continue to push the C.H.A.M.P. acronym as a label for military children, while excluding the BRAT heritage, your detractors are justified in their accusations. Until you stop hiding behind Public Relations statements and look at your program objectively from the other side of the fence, your perceived unjust persecution will continue to be what it is - a self-inflicted wound
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:44:16 +0000
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