High schools must allow military recruiters on campus...

[RadicalMom]

any time that college recruiters are allowed there?? This is according to our local paper a few weeks ago before I could post. There had been a meeting at the city library to discuss it. Some military recruiters got word of it and showed up to represent their point of view. Supposedly, according to provisions in the Patriot Act, the high schools and colleges, actually, are required to turn in the names and addresses of all students who are 18 to 21, excuse me if this isn't exactly the right statistic, to the military (the article didn't say exactly who) unless the recruiters were given access to the students on campus. Does anyone know about the particulars of this requirement? People were not exactly amused about this!

[El Biggo Doggo]

1. I'm a teacher

and i gotta tell you, this would NEVER FLY AT MY SCHOOL! ever. I will check on the facts.

[TaleWgnDg]

2. Deep within the No Child Left Behind Act and other relevant

Deep within the No Child Left Behind Act and other relevant laws are legal words that allowing the U.S.A. military to hound young kids as young as sixth grade, I believe. The schools, on the other hand, must by these laws, give to the U.S.A. military certain "private" information about each and every school kid.

However, there is another provision w/i these laws. It's an opt-out provision. It necessitates the kid's parents signing an "opt-out" documentation in order to NOT have the school reveal all the kid's "private" information to the military. And it's up to each and every school to notify the parents about this law, it's provisions, and the opt-out feature.

BTW, the U.S.A. military targets certain schools, certain zip codes and zeros in on these particular kids . . . little contact is felt in the schools whose kids go on to college or other post-secondary schools. I kid you not. Tis all in U.S.A. military guidelines and stuff.

edit to add: in addition, The USA Patriot Act of 2001 and other relevant laws allow the inter-agency exchange of this information . . . tis in there. Yup. Sad but true.

edited again to add: A word of precaution, I wouldn't rely upon the school to notify you as a parent. No way. Instead, I'd get off by butt and go down to the school, directly, and make damn sure that my signature was upon the required-by-law "opt out" documentation. Why wait for the school to "notify" you? Mistakes may be made. Then, what's your recourse?


.

[RadicalMom]

4. Oh, you're RIGHT - let's not Leave Any Child Behind!

Thanks for the info. I'd forgotten that little tiny fact. While Bush doesn't fund a lot of what is required by his often-touted-during-the-campaign favorite accomplishment, you can bet he is sure that part gets funded. When you say it's up to the schools to notify us about the opt out documentation, are they required to? My daughter is in eighth grade, and we've never received anything about it. My impression of the principal and the school board is that they are pretty right wing which could account for the fact that this is being enforced here, when this is an "upscale"(I hate that term) community, with a high rate of college-bound kids..

[Sugarbleus]

5. I just learned about this over the weekend!

I live in a Liberal, Green Consious community. The city counsil, County sups drew up a regulation a year or so ago to prevent recruiters to come onto the school campuses in many districts.

Then I learned about this hidden clause in the NCLB thing...maybe it was you who told me, any way it was another teacher who started the subject here in DU.

I aim to call the school, I forgot to do so today, however my concern is that I had to fill out a butt load of documents for this school year at county office of ed. I saw something about NCLB, but didn't read it closely. I had intended to ask the Superintendant what it meant....DO YOU SUPPOSE I SIGNED AWAY MY KIDS INFO ALREADY? If so, how can I change it?

[Swamp Rat]

3. It's required here

In Louisiana, high schools give out personal information about all of their students to the military. Not one student is overlooked. Universities and the Dept. of Motor vehicles also require registration for the Selective Service, otherwise no college or driver's licenses. I've heard employers may eventually comply.

Of course, only the poor and middle class need be concerned.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. I didn't have to register when I went to get my license...

Which was 2 years ago. Must be new.

[Swamp Rat]

10. When I renewed my license early this year, I saw the SS poster on the wall

Troop B DMV office in Jefferson Parish. Folks had to listen in line as I talked loudly about the coming draft, PNAC, Patriot Act, etc. No one rebutted, but a few expressed their concern too. I was surprise I didn't receive any flak this time, especially since I WAS in David Duke country.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. Got my license at troop B bout 2 years ago, no such sign, must be VERY NEW

I was a 16 year old male, so if they'd had that back then, they definately would've made me register.

[ebayfool]

6. Allows recruiters same access as college recruiters, prospective employers

Opt-out paperwork is often buried in the pile of paperwork that parents are deluged with when enrolling their kids, so it's not always clear when signing the papers (or not signing, mixed w/paperwork on many different subjects can be confusing). Best to straight out ask school to show you the forms, to be sure they are signed. Still, if drivers license or college aid is going to be needed, they still get their info.

The entire act should be studied, it's a real eye opener!

No Child Left Behind Index
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html

TROOPS-TO-TEACHERS PROGRAM
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg27.html

ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg112.html#sec9528

(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.

[Bridget Burke]

7. I can see why parents want to fight this.

And why they want to "opt out" of supplying information.

However, shielding a child totally from the military makes about as much sense as avoiding sex education. The recruiters will still be out there & just as eager to "seduce" you children (in their way) as a horny 17 year old who'll promise undying love to get what he wants.

Any friends or relatives with military experience might help explain that recruiters sometimes lie. For some young people, a military career--or a few years service--might be worth considering. In "normal" times--not under Bush.

For kids who are already college bound, this is not so tempting. But what about the others? They need to get both sides of the story. And--if the draft is reinstated--the younger generation is going to need even more help.

[RadicalMom]

8. Having military recruiters on campus, influencing the young,...

is not comparable to avoiding sex education. I would hope that responsible parents would discuss sex education, the necessity of using common sense when other people try to influence them about ANY decisions they have to learn to make, and the need to learn to recognize when they are being sold a bill of goods. The "glamour" of the military, the notoriously empty promises the recruiters are known to make, leading to the possibility of death and dismemberment, cannot be compared to avoiding sex education. I wouldn't let my child go play with a basket of snakes because some of them might not bite. College recruiters can make false promises to sway your child in their direction, but it is not likely to cost them their lives. We never had military recruiters at any of the schools I ever attended in the stone age, and I don't think the private information about my thirteen year old belongs in the hands of anyone without her and our permission.

[Swamp Rat]

11. In another thread I suggested that we should, after the recruiters leave,

show pictures of dead and maimed soldiers. How about video footage of interviews of soldiers with missing limbs, or others talking about bloated bodies, children splattered all over their own bedrooms, and dogs eating dead mommies and daddies?

"See kids! These Army guys didn't tell you about the horrors you will face and the debt you will pay during AND after the fighting is done. Plus, they earn points by SUCKERING YOU IN! Are you kids a bunch of dumb-ass fools or can you think for yourselves?" Sounds harsh, but not as harsh as losing your legs from a roadside bomb.

Another poster suggested to bring empty combat boots with name tags. Articles of clothing, eye glasses, shoes, etc. made an impression on me when I visited Dachau, so I imagine it would affect teens as well. Couple that with images of Marines with their brains dripping out fractured skulls and protruding bones where limbs used to be, then we may see recruitment come to a complete halt. I'd rather offend the sensibilities of the sensitive than sit back and do nothing while young kids are sent to their deaths.

[njdemocrat106]

12. For about 4 years after graduating High School...

I got phone calls at home from military recruiters (Marines mostly), and they almost always left messages on my answering machine, which I never returned. (I have both an answering machine and Caller ID).