Posted on 07/02/2005 6:08:14 AM PDT by 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
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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.
(Excerpt) Read more at pww.org ...
If these kids are not weaned by the time they are in High School there must be something going on.
If this 17 or 18 year old male let's his Momma run his life, what branch would want him?
The almost 100 people who turned out in the San Diego region, a heavily militarized area home to a Marine base and Navy Seals, were part of a nation-wide call to meet on the first day of June, put out by MMOB, The Main Street Moms Operation Blue. MMOB, a relatively new grassroots group, is taking a page out of the Howard Dean playbook and rallying people though a well-orchestrated internet campaign.
According to Charlie Imes, chair of the local chapter of Democracy for America (DFA), the MMOB contacted him and asked him to put the Military Recruiter discussion at the top of the night's agenda. "They asked and I said great," said Imes, who was enthusiastic about the night's turnout.
Twenty miles north in Carlsbad, dozens of people turned out to hear speakers and to fill out opt out forms, according to Jeeni Criscenzo, a member of the North County Peace and Justice Coalition who coordinated the event with MMOD.
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The opt out form is provided for in section 9528, A, 1. of the No Child Left Behind Act, in part, because school receiving federal funding are required to provide the following:
"1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings..." in addition to granting recruiters physical access to the campus or lose much needed federal funds. (http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg112.html)
The opt out form makes the child's information unavailable to military recruiters and puts the child on a do not call list. Federal law requires school districts to inform parents about the opt out form. While some school districts list the form on either the school district website or the high school website, the San Diego school district does not.
A brief glance at MMOB's website showed at least 20 such meetings planned for June 1, from Bakersfield to Boston. More are listed throughout the month of June.
It sounds like the children are currently infants, if they're going to be in middle school in 12 years.
(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.So by this measure if my child were to attend a public school and I did not know about the option to opt out (many parents apparently do not as these stories are popping up more frequently), by default their names are to be given to the government for recruiting purposes. The fact that those that supposedly advocate smaller limited government have no problem with this is disconcerting. Now I realize Republicans could care less for conservative principles anymore (as evidenced by this Act in general), but in effect what you are advocating is children as young as 14 or 15 would be receiving unsolicited mail from recruiters simply by attending school.(2) CONSENT- A secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the student's name, address, and telephone listing described in paragraph (1) not be released without prior written parental consent, and the local educational agency or private school shall notify parents of the option to make a request and shall comply with any request.
(3) SAME ACCESS TO STUDENTS- Each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students.
Why not take it a step further and require if they attend public school they should have to serve two years right out of high school. That's conservative....
That being said, billbears.. my own wonder about this part of the No Child Left Behind? WOULD such data culled reveal... illegal immigrants? CA Dems and liberals have an absolutely vested interested in growing the numbers of illegals living in the USA, particular in CA.
It's silly to think that the government does not already have your kids names. If you file taxes and claim kids as dependents - they have your kids name. No? This is just the liberals trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.
As a parent of teenage sons, I can tell you that the military recruitment literature was only a tiny percentage of the enourmous amount of mail my kids get (the college recruiters are WAYYYY more aggressive than the military).
Don't forget, our sons still have to register for selective service when they turn 18 - so what is all this fuss about?
OK then, it's time to do what Israel does and make military service mandatory for 2 years.
All I need do is swap out a few nouns in yours above; and it would perfectly describe what happens when police go into innercity "situtations" in CA.
MAJOR BINGO. That's exactly right. Try explaining this to people who want the freebies; but not the responsibilities that go with it.
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!
Yes, the horrors. What is the major difference between the military having this information versus secondary educational institutions or prospective employers having this information?
The difference is if secondary educational institutions or employrers have it, more than likely it means the student approached them and gave them approval to receive such information, not the other way around.
And it's not like some bureacries in PUBLIC institutes don't sell or provide the "youth" data. My own children began receiving credit card applications as young as age 9.
Sure.
An Example: Speaking would be presenting a civics or history lesson regarding subject matter on which the individual is qualified to speak.
Recruiting would be setting up a booth where anyone can "drop by" and learn all the advantages, options and salaries gain by enlisting in the military.
Of course it is. Try finding the basis for federal spending on education in the first place and explaining to 'conservatives' the national government is not supposed to be in the business of education
I have recruited for an employer at secondary schools and was provided lists of the students by the school.
Why are you worried about the union military?
I agree with you, but to read some of the Aruba threads, you'd think that a 17/18 year old is a helpless baby who requires constant supervision.
Sorry to bring that into this thread, but I've seen an unbelievable amount of comments from over-protective parents. There is a time to start letting go and let your kids make some decisions on their on.
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