It's good and bad. Good that you can keep in contact with loved ones. Bad in the sense that it keeps soldiers always thinking about problems back home and is a daily reminder to those back home about what they miss. Also, there are plenty of "helicopter" parents,spouses,girlfriends that now freak out if they don't talk to their soldier daily on skype/Facebook/the phone.
I totally agree with you about how the constant contact can be a distraction to the soldiers. But, then I’ve also read from military literature that you should be keeping your soldier informed of what’s going on and keep them involved in decisions and what not.
It’s such a tight rope to figure out what should be shared and what shouldn’t be shared. I’ve tried to have a policy of that I’ll keep him informed of what’s going on— but only if I have worked out a solution for the problem. I’ll tell him about it, tell him what I did about it and then say, “Do you think I approached that the right way?” This keeps him involved with the kids and their discipline and it keeps the heat of me. I can tell the kids, “I talked to dad and he agreed with your punishment.” I don’t know.. I’m far from being an expert on any of this. I feel like I am stumbling blind.