in the military feel pressure to step up . `` These teens are expected to take on the responsibility the deployed parent used to take care of , '' said Mary Carolyn Voght , director of programs for Our Military Kids , a nonprofit organization that provides support to children with a deployed parent in the National Guard . `` There 's usually the expectation that they will pitch in and help out more . '' More than 30,000 teens between 12 and 18 have at least one parent in the National Guard deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan , according to the Department of Defense . When all military branches are taken into consideration , the American Psychological Association estimates about 700,000 children under the age of 18 have a parent deployed overseas for military duty . Playing mom and dad `` This is nothing , '' said Tyler Dix modestly , describing his daily task of taking his 9-year-old sister Tayana to ballet and violin lessons and being a crying shoulder for his 13-year-old brother , Tevin , when he misses dad . `` It 's a lot of responsibility , but I do n't really have a choice
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In Pennsylvania , Tyler Dix , a 16-year-old movie buff , is wide awake by 7 a.m. to cook breakfast for his younger siblings . Moranda Hern and Kaylei Deakin started Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs , or battle dress uniforms . In Georgia , Tucker Simmons , a 14-year old novice guitarist , prepares ice packs for his mother whenever her chronic lower back pain kicks in . In California , Kaylei Deakin , an avid 17-year old rock climber , disciplines her little sisters when they act out . Tyler , Tucker and Kaylei are three teenagers from across the country who have very different interests , but one experience that bonds them : They grew up fast -- sometimes too quickly -- to fill the shoes of mom or dad when their parent was shipped off to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . As the death toll from the two wars has risen over the last eight years , the fight has also affected a growing number of children left at home to cope without a parent . Whether it 's raising their siblings or getting an after-school job , teens with parents