As many of you know, there has been a Truth in Recruiting movement going on. I have been participating in it somewhat - but today, the reality of it hit home, hard.
Did you know that our government has forced high schools to open its doors to military recruiters? If a school refuses to allow them to recruit on campus, the government will pull their federal funding. Thats right, they're being blackmailed into allowing an open season on minors. Recruiters are meeting with, counseling and setting up recruitment with students as young as 15 years old, maybe younger.
The youngest in my family has fallen prey to their lies. Apparently he has been meeting with a recruiter since his junior year, at the tender age of sixteen. The recruiter has also discouraged him from discussing the notion of recruitment from his family members, along with convincing him that a recruiter knows more about the military (and what's right for this minor) than the six decorated veterans in our immediate family. Count 'em, six! What the hell does this desk jockey know about it anyway? He's not in Iraq, he's not in combat - where future soldiers will be going, and he knows more about it than we do?! He sure as hell doesn't have a purple heart!
It is my opinion that the kind of dishonesty and misinformation being spread by our government is horrid. The fact that it has seeped into our school systems, and the heads of our children is abhorrent. Parents work hard protecting their children from all manner of influences (good, bad or otherwise). We work, petition and sue to keep our children from being exposed to issues at school, from the school. Why has the issue of military recruitment largely gone unnoticed? These are minors we are talking about. Only a small percentage of students in a high school are 18 years of age - the age that determines whether or not a person can enter into a legally binding contract. It is also against the law (in most states anyway) for adults to coerce minors, take advantage of their youth or otherwise manipulate them. Be it in business practices, sexual predators, or overall well being.
Asking children to sign up to become cannon fodder in an illegal war is not in their best interest. Preying upon their eagerness to please parents, teachers, and country by playing the Patriot - Hero card is disgusting.
If an adult wants to sign up and volunteer for the military, then more power to them. However minors who are in high school should be off limits. Recruiters should be forced to wait until these kids have had the benefit of a full education and a little bit of adulthood before being able to speak to them.
I say recruitment should not be able to happen on school grounds at all, period. However - since I don't think this would ever happen, a recruiter should not be allowed to speak to a minor without the minor's parent or legal guardian present.
In light of the deceitful nature encouraged by the recruiter I say it is imperative that we star hollering about this now.
I will not stand by and let our government recruit children for war!
For more information on what you can do about recruitment in your area, please go to the IVAW website,
and Sgt Kokesh's blog.
Call your representatives and tell them that you don't want the military recruiting children at all, or without a parent present at the very least. Tell them that you want the government to stop holding educational funding over their head, and allow the school to decide who they let on their campus.
Call your school to let them know that something can be done about recruiters being on school grounds.
Pass this post around, and Truth In Recruiting posts of your own to start a blog burst!
This needs to stop NOW!
12.11.2007
Truth In Recruiting Blog Burst
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16 comments:
Good post and one that needs brought to the mainstream.
I am currently working in Colorado and across from Colorado State there is a recruitment office that looks more like a coffee show.
Recruiters openly walk the camous looking for their prey.
High School kids should not be subjected to this messing of the minds.
Turning kids away from their families in the most important decision they may make: Life versus Death is no choice that should be left to a kid.
This is important. I am going to link to this post, as you can speak directly from experience. At Reconstitution, we've had many examples of Government dishonesty through secondhand sources (and my own example, which I will post with the link to your post.) THANK YOU for talking about this.
In Minneapolis there has been a big anti-recruitment movement in the high schools. led by Youth Against War and Racism. Here they led a demonstration involving >500 high school students.
Since schools will not be funded if they kick out recruiters, the movement has demanded counter recruiters, as well as recruiters not left alone without someone antiwar nearby.
You should get in touch with YAWR.
Given the fact some recruiters have been proved to have sexually abused children,
Sexual Abuse By Military Recruiters, More Than 100 Women Raped Or ...
Given the fact that recruiters have been proved to LIE to children,
Hardball Recruiter Gets Promoted, Soldier Threatened To Have ...
Given the fact recruiters have been proved to commit fraud to illegally recruit children who should never have been recruited,
Recruiting fraud Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE ...
I for one think military recruiters need to get PERMISSION to speak to minor children ROM THEIR parents, who after all have the responsibility to protect their children.
It is NOT too much to ask, because it would do two things,
Straighten up some of the more abusive practices,
Give the child a fighting chance of getting the truth IF they and their parents want to allow the recruiter to speak to their child.
The government should allow the parent maximum control over what adults has access to their children, this is not asking too much.
Anok
You know, this has been going on for years in one form or the other. It is a new ploy though forcing high Schools to let recruiters in.
Bush again is guilty of doing what he is accusing the Islamists of doing and that is brainwashing the kids as the Madrassas do. I am absolutely sick of this crap!
I really do not like going after the kids and I happen to believe they will find their way to the military on their own as we all did. I better send this before I lose it somethings wrong. I will finish in a second!
Okay
Recruiters have allways lied. I don't know anyone that wasn't lied to myself included. I don't like the underhanded lying to the kids but telling them not to talk to their parents is just too much.
A kid as a teenager will work things out and do what they want. I did and my sons did. we didn't need recruiters in High School. Vietnam was going full steam and many of us knew we were going in the Marines when we got out of High School. Any brainwashing necessary is done by the MSM. This underhanded crap will only get worse as this Forever war ramps up!
This has been going on since the British offered men a free flagon of ale with 'the king's shilling' concealed in the bottom of the glass. When the would be recruit reached into the glass for the unexpected coin, he became a private soldier in His Majesty's Armed Services.
It's got to stop.
BTW, it would be a good idea for you to encourage people who want to join the blog burst to contact you with the URL of their post. Then you could make a post of links to participants.
I think what blows the whole scam is the trying to keep the family out of the loop. That indicates a real awareness that they they are underhand and grooming kids. I do think that the military recruitment age should be over 21 at least, that would put a break on the military industrial congressional complex and make for people being informed of their choice. Plus it would force the poverty drafting to be displaced and some attention paid to school leavers will few prospects and how to help them rather then use their labour for the meat grinder then spit them out poor and injured while the ruling class gets richer.
From the perspective of the UK and a family deeply involved in the military I would have to say the level of predation here is simply not tolerable and it does make the notion of a volunteer military somewhat disingenuous.
A coerced and seduced military of children maybe. This wouldn't be allowed in many countries today.
It reminds me the subtitle for Slaughterhouse Five is The Children's Crusade, the war machine has always wanted young impressionable labour for its devices, the extent to which society allows that probably indicates the health of a culture and also the likelihood a country will engage in wars. For the US you are right to be seeing grave wrongs in the current situation and going back to the secretive grooming tactics it is clear they know they are up to no good.
This is quite good at anti-war How the military persuades kids to enlist
ok, she is a christian (but not a crazy)- and a psychologist, she has a few pieces about recruitment practices.
PS. the coin ale scam is the reason many pewter pint mugs began to be made with glass bottom so you could check to see if a coin had been chucked in.
"Bush again is guilty of doing what he is accusing the Islamists of doing and that is brainwashing the kids as the Madrassas do."
AAP- Something like that was percolating in the back of my mind but you put it succintly, although... maybe he thinks they all get to hang out in a champagne Air National Guard unit, dodge all those drug revealing medicals and then go AWOL.
I wrote a post titled *Information is Subject to Change* on 12/7
http://ramblings-fran.blogspot.com/
about recruitment.
The Marketing of Militarization is rampant & out of control. In band class a recruiter came & told the children about having a career in music with the military. Initially, my 15 year old son thought this was a great idea. WE quickly told him all about recruitment & how they trick you to sign, then ship you off to Iraq. You may want a "career" in a particular field, and the recruiter would likely promise you whatever you need to hear to sign the line. The band class- a captive audience. the recruiter told the kids he'll be in trouble with his boss if the students did not fill out the "info cards" he psssed out at the end of his presentation. Talk about coersion! The marketing is slick.
Unless the parents put the topic on the agenda, and insist on tight regs for recruiters, it ain't gonna happen. As I mentioned in my blog-- one schol had people signing the Opt Out (do not recruit form schools are required to present to students) turning their forms in to uniformed military officers. I pitched a fit after the classroom recruitment stunt & got the admin to limit the recriuters to the same regs as college & business recruiters. No more wandering around the halls, classrooms, cafeteria. Plus the school allowed my son to have anti recruitment tabling a few times a year in the school as well. He would pass out pamphlets with facts shattering the myths recruiters hand out. We happened to have a pretty progressive admin to allow this. the district itself had a tight reg on what recruiters could do. They banned the mobile military recruitment trailer from any access to district property after they parked one at a high school one day.
My son asks if the free give aways are toe tags & body bags.
Unless the parents put the topic on the agenda, and insist on tight regs for recruiters, it ain't gonna happen. As I mentioned in my blog-- one schol had people signing the Opt Out (do not recruit form schools are required to present to students) turning their forms in to uniformed military officers. I pitched a fit after the classroom recruitment stunt & got the admin to limit the recriuters to the same regs as college & business recruiters. No more wandering around the halls, classrooms, cafeteria. Plus the school allowed my son to have anti recruitment tabling a few times a year in the school as well. He would pass out pamphlets with facts shattering the myths recruiters hand out. We happened to have a pretty progressive admin to allow this. the district itself had a tight reg on what recruiters could do. They banned the mobile military recruitment trailer from any access to district property after they parked one at a high school one day.
My son asks if the free give aways are toe tags & body bags.
Wow! Thanks for all the support fellow bloggers! Great links, suggestions and posts - its just the thing to make me smile tonight!
I will get a blog roundup going - for all those bloggers out there passing it forward, or writing their own - be sure to link it all up!
I will, that is, as soon as my hands warm up!
great post about yet another painful issue that needs to be spotlighted...you are doing a good job here woman....telling the truth about things that really matter...thank you....
Great post and thanks for the shout out! It is important to spread the word about counter-recruiting and making sure that people understand it's importance to ending the war and bringing the military back in line with the will of the people. Our efforts are centered around "Truth in Recruiting" which just means sharing the truth about what recruiters promise. The big one is "you won't be sent to Iraq/Afghanistan," but there are many other insidious lies about the lack of respect the military has for its members. By convincing people not to enlist with the truth, we can force the government to change those truths, get us out of Iraq, and have a military that respects the people that join it. Keep up the great work.
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