Moms tell recruiters: ‘Leave My Child Alone!’

People's Weekly World ^ | 06-30-05 | Tim Wheeler

[Alia]

WASHINGTON — Megan Watson, leader of Mainstream Moms, is so angry at military recruiters for invading schools to sign up unwary youth for combat in Iraq that she and her group launched an online movement, “LeaveMyChildAlone.org.”

“They offer these trinkets to lure our children to enlist,” Watson said in a phone interview from her home in Bolinas, Calif. “This is very aggressive, demographic targeting to have conversations with our kids that should not be happening.”

All branches of the military are falling short of recruiting goals as parents say, in effect, “Hell no! My kids won’t go!” Watson blasted the aggressive recruiting drive as a backdoor draft conducted by the Pentagon because the American people reject a return to military conscription. “I’ve heard it called an economic draft,” she said. “They know where to find kids who don’t think they have a lot of options. They are playing on our children’s lack of hope about college and their future.”
...
Watson shares these views. “I do utterly oppose our occupation of Iraq,” she said. “We are spending $4 billion every month on this war. People are seeing the cost not only in dead and wounded but also in their own communities. Libraries forced to close. No National Guard to fight forest fires. They can’t find $8.5 billion of the funds we sent to Iraq. And they want to squeeze it out of Medicaid funding for senior citizens. It’s just outrageous
...
Joining the effort are a dozen peace and justice groups including the Ella Baker Center, ACORN, Code Pink, Peace Action, American Friends Service Committee, Latinos for Peace and Veterans for Peace.

[bert]

Recruiters to mom....He is not your child any more.

[neodad]

Ms.Watson need have no fear of her son enlisting. With a mommy like her he has probably been brainwashed to hate his country, and will no doubt live at home in her basement until he's fifty!

As a father of 4 boys, he's probably going to wind up a SEAL, just to piss off his mom.

[dakine]

Love these threads...same ol', same ol' will be re-hashed, and I'll read for the enjoyment...

[gaspar]

Where is the husband (father) in this equation? Want to guess?

[Drew68]

Who said Republicans were conservative and for limited government?

I think it can clearly be shown that Republicans only favor a small, limited government when they are the minority party.

That being said, I have no problems with military recruiters having equal access to information as college recruiters. Despite what these moms say we still have an all-volunteer force. Most in the military wish to keep it this way (including this poster). Nobody forces anyone to sign up.

[OregonRancher]

Bolinas? Ya gotta be kidding me! Small hamlet north of San Fran filled with aging hippy's smoking dope! They're so far left they make the rest of California look conservative....

[TigersEye]

I find the policies covered in No Child Left Behind Act that address the issue of turning over children's names to the government for recruiting more than a little disconcerting as well. Does that make me a liberal?

Not at all. The NCLBA itself is about as liberal/socialist/communist as a program can get. (Thank you George "One World" Bush.)

If you decide the solution is to lie about the war in Iraq and undercut the WoT with anti-American rhetoric and convince your children that the threat of terrorism is just a scam made up by Pres. Bush and war mongering Republicans then you'd be a liberal.

The intelligent solution is to keep your kids out of gooberment skools. Preferably home-schooling them.

[longtermmemmory]

yet another crack pot left wing organization given instant legitimacy by the MSM loonies.

[Eagle Eye]

This has been going on for years under FERPA...

If a school is going to provide directory infomation to one organization it has to do so for all.

Is there any reason that a college, university, tech school, etc should have access to the information and have contact with the students and ROTC, the service academies, national guard, reserves, and active military doesn't?

[yoe]

They are playing on our children’s lack of hope about college and their future.........???????????

They will have no future unless all Americans pull together and fight for a future - these mothers are wrong, they are teaching their children to let someone else "do it". Freedom doesn't work that way........................

[Freebird Forever]

“I’ve heard it called an economic draft,” she said. “They know where to find kids who don’t think they have a lot of options. They are playing on our children’s lack of hope about college and their future.”

What does this comment say about the schools these kids are attending, as well as the parents own contributions to their kid's future?

[Dutch Boy]

During the Carter administration, and I assume earlier, the military had full access to high schools. This is not a new thing. They were at my high school several times a year. There was a very active campaign to tempt people into joining the military including MASSIVE cash bonus payouts for certain specialties. A buddy of mine gout an $18K signing bonus in 1978 and a $23K reenlistment bonus in 1983. Not bad when the base pay was about $855/month for our rank. If you could refer two or more people to the recruiter and they joined you actually could get you E2 the second you put on the uniform.

Recruiters provide a path for many kids to leave bad homes, bad neighborhoods, or over barring parents. Kids need to grow up on their own. Yes, I have children (2 girls) and yes I did suggest they serve their country as part of the military. They chose a different path. It's their life - their choice.

[libs_kma]

"This is very aggressive, demographic targeting to have conversations with our kids that should not be happening."

Fuuny. She's not braying about her kid having conversations with crack dealers.

[TigersEye]

It says that these liberal parents, together with the leftist NEA gooberment skools, have worked hard at instilling a bleak and hopeless outlook in their children's minds and they don't want the military coming along and making strong, self-reliant adults out of them.

[Tax-chick]

But according to the Act this requires the school to turn over information such as address, phone #, etc so the recruiter would be able to approach the child off school property unsolicited.

And I agree that's unacceptable. (In fact, all Federal requirements for education are unacceptable.)

[SouthernFreebird]

Your exactly right and that is one reason I wouldn't want my child to join the service anymore. That and the fact that we don't go and kick ass then leave, rather we sit around being target practice for another 10 years with our hands tied. Forget that.

[Tax-chick]

Okay, thanks.

[GVnana]

As long as we treat 17-21 year olds as if they were still children, our problems will continue to multiply.

Agreed.

[You Dirty Rats]

Ms.Watson need have no fear of her son enlisting. With a mommy like her he has probably been brainwashed to hate his country, and will no doubt live at home in her basement until he's fifty!

Either that, or he'll emulate Jihad Johnny from Marin County and join Al-Qaida.

[CheneyChick]

If parents won't give their permission to enlist, the kids just wait until their 18th birthday and sign up on their own....

By the way, did you see that the Army met its recruiting goals this month?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/29/national/w133827D71.DTL

That didn't make as much news as when the Army missed its goals for four months straight.