Pimp your Homecoming

Why do so many of the military on leave from their overseas assignments orchestrate a reunion at their children's schools, with audience present and cameras on? The reunions are always of the "Surprise!" type. Sure, the reunions are emotional, especially if the newly arrived father/mother/sister/brother/beloved aunt/revered uncle has been gone a long time. But isn't that kind of a double whammy for the kids, to be reunited in such a public way. Wouldn't it be easier for the children to have the meeting in the privacy of their own homes? Not every memorable event has to be recorded, and certainly not before an audience. (I just saw such a televised reunion, where the announcer said it was an emotional event: a woman was meeting, of course by surprise, her little sister, of course in the child's school, and the cameras were rolling, of course. The little sister came forward when the older sister motioned for her to do so. The child looked confused, seeming not to recognize her elder sister, after a 2 1/2 year absence. I would say the only "emotion" displayed was awkwardness.)