So consider this scenario: Your country is at war. It's been at war for a few years, and it could be at war for a few more. The Reserves and National Guard have already been called up. Part-timers used to training one weekend a month are being shipped overseas for 14-month tours of duty. But there still aren't enough soldiers. What do you do? Well, if you're a recruiter for the U.S. Army, you make a video game.
A video game? Yep. That's the newest recruiting tool the Army is rolling out in hopes of persuading a new wave of young people—reared on PlayStation and Xbox—to be all that they can be. The online, multi-player game targets boys 14 and older and, among other things, lets players "fire realistic Army weapons, such as automatic rifles and grenade launchers." Like that, kids? Sign here for the real thing...in Baghdad!
But the Army video game isn't the only way military officials are targeting young people—though it might be the most fun. Across the country, stepped-up efforts to recruit high-school students at their schools have parents, students and schools up in arms. A provision of the No Child Left Behind Act requires that, to receive federal education funding, public schools must make their enrollment rosters available to military recruiters. There is a parental opt-out option, but you don't learn that unless you go looking for it. The NCLB clause also allows military recruiters access to school grounds, there they can meet students and hand out information.
Military recruiters in public high schools aren't new. (Even during the relatively peaceful Clinton administration, a certain overzealous Sergeant Webber called me at home a few times a month when I was a high-school junior. "You want to study journalism? The Army can help with that!") The difference now, of course, is that the likelihood of any kid who takes the bait being shipped off to Iraq or Afghanistan within six months is pretty high. And considering that the most-mentioned reason that young people enlist is to get the money for college, there's suddenly a rather high potential price to pay for getting an education.
Kids and parents fed up with military recruiters in their schools have started forming groups to educate the public about recruitment tactics and the parental opt-out clause that allows parents to specify that recruiters can't call their kids. One of these, Military Free Zone, features a "debunking the myths" section on its website, and a petition to change the No Child Left Behind military recruitment clause. Another group, LeaveMyChild Alone, has planned nationwide house parties for today, June 1, to mobilize citizens to resist in-school military recruiting. It's not to late to attend or host a house party—find a local one here.
--Laura Donnelly |
Wednesday 10:35 AM
