recruiting at public high schools

[rcne]

A PTA in Seattle has banned military recruiting at its high school. Not a bad idea, but if the supreme court decides that the government can withhold federal funds from colleges that ban recruitment, then they should also be able to withhold funds from the individual schools.

I'm sure the local taxpayers won't mind the additional property taxes.

Rift over recruiting at public high schools

A Seattle high school bars military solicitation, touching off debate over Iraq war and free speech.

By Dean Paton | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

SEATTLE – While most Parent Teacher Student Association meetings might center on finding funding for better math books or the best way to chaperon a school dance, a recent meeting here at Garfield High School grappled with something much larger - the war in Iraq.
The school is perhaps one of the first in the nation to debate and vote against military recruiting on high school campuses - a topic already simmering at the college level. In fact, the Supreme Court recently agreed to decide whether the federal government can withhold funds from colleges that bar military recruiters.
.....

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0518/p02s01-ussc.html

[Mr.Vicchio]

Those people should be ashamed.

Period.

[Milton Bradley]

So, they want to use funding to advance their agenda. How comforting.

[RickSp]

I am not crazy about the idea of preventing access to recruiters but I do think there needs to be a balance to the lies invariably told by the recruiters. (Before anyone starts screaming, recruiters have been lying to recruits for centuries.)

Activists vs. military recruiters in schools
Volunteers affiliated with peace groups urge students to think twice before signing up for a stint in uniform

The soldiers serving in Operation Enduring Reality have a message for young people thinking of joining the military: "Think twice."

Armed with facts and figures on war costs and casualties as well as testimony from disheartened soldiers, volunteers - most of whom are associated with other peace groups - are heading into schools throughout the Sacramento region to talk with kids about the risks of military life.

Some activists call it "counter-recruiting" because they view it as an alternative perspective to a massive campaign by the military to recruit young people.

Activists vs. military recruiters in schools

[Gorgo]

Those people should be ashamed.

Don't blame the recruiters, 'V,' I'm sure that it's official policy to try to talk children into doing what adults wouldn't do. They're not doing it on their own.

[gr8fuldaniel]

That article is a good find, rcne.
I heard about another recent story where a student recorded a recruiter telling him to cheat and lie...... To forge a diploma. Here it is

McSwane, 17, is actually just the kind of teenager the military would like. He's a high school journalist and honor student at Arvada West High School. But McSwane decided he wanted to see "how far the Army would go during a war to get one more solider."

McSwane contacted his local army recruiting office in Golden with a scenario he created. He told a recruiter that he was a dropout and didn't have a high school diploma.

"No problem," the recruiter explained. He suggested that McSwane create a fake diploma from a non-existent school.

McSwane recorded the recruiter saying that on the phone.

"It can be like Faith Hill Baptist School or something -- whatever you choose," the recruiter said.

As instructed, McSwane went on the computer to a Web site and for $200 arranged to have a phony diploma created that certified him as a graduate of Faith Hill Baptist High School, the very name the recruiter suggested. It came complete with a fake grade transcript.

"What was your reaction to them encouraging you to get a phony diploma?" CBS4's Rick Sallinger asked.

"I was shocked," McSwane said. "I'm sitting there looking at a poster that says 'Integrity, Honor, Respect' and he is telling me to lie."

McSwane also pretended he had a drug problem when he spoke with the recruiter.

The Army does not accept enlistees with drug problems.

"I have a problem with drugs," McSwane said, referring to the conversation he had with the recruiter. "I can't kick the habit ... just marijuana."

"[The recruiter] said 'Not a problem,' just take this detox ... he said he would pay half of it ... told me where to go."

Drug testers CBS4 contacted insist it doesn't work, but the recruiter claimed in another recorded phone conversation that taking "detoxification capsules and liquid" would help McSwane pass the required test.

I remember when I almost joined up (many moons ago), I had just taken the physical and the written tests. The recruiter was asking me if I was ready jump on the bus. He told me I did so well on the written test, I could start as an officer. (LIE) He also said he would get me in as a Photographer, I didnt want to shoot people, I wanted to shoot pictures of them. But somebody told me to get any promises in writing. They guy wouldnt put it in writing, and I looked up above him at a sign warning about $10,000 fine for lying on government applications. I had some petty misdemeaners that I didnt put down. I just told him "Nope. Not ready to jump on the bus today, maybe later"
If the government were not evil at its core, maybe it would be fine to have recruiters on campus. Fact remains they lie and kill and steal and commit every manner of abomination against humanity. Fuck no I am not jumping on any bus with these demons. Not today and not ever.

[Milton Bradley]

Don't blame the recruiters, 'V,' I'm sure that it's official policy to try to talk children into doing what adults wouldn't do. They're not doing it on their own.

Exactly. People in the military follow orders. There is little free will to do anything on ones own.


Off topic: That is why the Aby Gharib story is also a little too much to swallow.

[gr8fuldaniel]

Don't blame the recruiters, 'V,'

Do I sense a note of sarcasm here? I think Mr V, is saying the PTA should be ashamed for kicking the recruiters out. Not that the recruiters should be ashamed.

[Milton Bradley]

Do I sense a note of sarcasm here? I think Mr V, is saying the PTA should be ashamed for kicking the recruiters out. Not that the recruiters should be ashamed.

[A large whooshing sound is heard as that attempt at sarcasm passes directly over Milton's head]


Umm ..., oh..., thanks Daniel.

[Gorgo]

Do I sense a note of sarcasm here?

From me? I'm verklempt!

[rcne]

The choice to join or not is up to the individual, not the PTA. I enlisted and I believed most of what the recruited told me.

I would have enlisted anyway, not really much of a choice. I needed to change my ways. I figured I'd either end up dead or in jail, or both.

I gained from my service. I learned to trust myself and my abilities. And most importantly - that being a civilian is not such a bad thing.

[Inferno]

A good point i don't care if they take the recruiters OUT of the school but they should be able to leave pamphlets and such inside offices and classrooms. But if the school decides to take the recruiters out for a loss of funding that the communities choice if they want ot pay for that out of there pockets and not the state, county, or government budget thats there choice but the choice should be voted on by the community not just the Parent Teacher Student Association