What Is Your School System's Policy on JROTC/Military Recruitment?

[CorpGovActivist]

Some school systems have seen a sharp dropoff in JROTC enrollment, as groups opposed to military recruitment programs in high schools have fought - and won - more equal access to the student bodies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jrotc#Opposition_to_JROTC

What is your school system's policy? Even if you don't have students enrolled in your local school system, as a taxpayer, you have the right to call up the local school board and find out when the next public meeting is, to seek to get the issue on the agenda, and to seek to influence the school system's policy.

Best,

- Dave

[noamnety]

1. I have some experience with this

I work with a group that successfully tackled this issue within the Detroit Public Schools, giving our group "Finding Altneratives to Military Enlistment" equal access to the schools, so recruiters have a bit of balance. The meeting minutes from the final board meeting where we were approved are online here (dial up warning, 850kb, 550kb pdfs):
http://www.ideamouth.com/fame/DPS_Dec14_2007_MinutesPg2.pdf
http://www.ideamouth.com/fame/DPS_Dec14_2007_MinutesPg3.pdf

We didn't take on the existence of JROTC, but we did get the board to legitimize our presence in the schools, which is an important thing, so teachers who invite us in as speakers have some protection.

For anyone wanting to go that route, I could get a copy of the powerpoint charts that were used for the smaller board committee meetings that led up to the larger public one where we got formal approval.

Also, each group that gets these things approved helps the next - reference the districts that have done this when you make your presentations. DPS is the 6th largest district in the country, and it gives your own school board a level of comfort to know they aren't going out on a limb if they approve this sort of thing.

[CorpGovActivist]

2. AWESOME!

Thank you for sharing your personal, proven approach.

- Dave

[noamnety]

3. We also have a developed hour-long workshop

For any groups that are interested in speaking in schools (or to other youth organizations), we have an entire program that we use, designed to be about an hour long, so it works in a classroom setting. We typically go into a teacher's room and present to their classes, and sometimes that teacher will have invited another teacher to merge classes for the day.

We've got some ice breaker questions (who has family in the military, who has been contacted by recruiters, who is thinking about joining, what do they hope to get from it), and we stay very nonjudgmental about that. We aren't trying to convince people not to join, we're giving them facts, so they can make their own decisions. Our belief is that if they have the facts, they won't join, but that's their call to make.

We show a clip from F911 when the recruiters are targetting minorities at a local mall, and we talk about the tactics they use. Is it realistic to think that you will have a successful career in basketball if you join the marines? Are you more likely to be a famous rap artist because you were a marine? Why are they targetting minorities?

My favorite part is going through the enlistment contract itself. We have them work in groups, noting the parts of the contract that don't make sense, or that they have a question about. That generates some very good discussion.

9. FOR ALL ENLISTEES OR REENLISTEES: Many laws, regulations, and military customs will govern my conduct and require me to do things a civilian does not have to do. The following statements are not promises or guarantees of any kind. They explain some of the present laws affecting the Armed Forces which I cannot change but which Congress can change at any time.

a. My enlistment is more than an employment agreement...

b. Laws and regulations regarding military personnel may change without notice to me. Such changes may effect my status, pay, allowances, benefits, and responsiblities as a member of the Armed Forces REGARDLESS of the provisions of this enlistment/reenlistment document.

c. In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.

We talk some about stop loss, about GI Bill myths (most of the people who enroll in that end up being out $1200), about promises that you won't get sent to Iraq (we have the faces of the fallen, which we unfold), and we talk about alternative ways to pay for college, and alternatives to traditional 9 to 5 jobs.

At the end, we have a jeopardy style game, with a quiz about benefits and trivia, with small prizes (pens) we give out for correct answers, and if we still have time left, some fact cards for kids to read outloud.

[kiteinthewind]

5. Excellent, lwfern! We have a Youth & Militarism Committee thru AFSC here. They have

done lots of school board meetings and 'career day' tables to get the info out there, mostly about the sneaky little clause in the 'Patiot' Act that requires student's personal info to be given to military recruiters, unless the parent or child signs an Opt Out form, which of course most districts don't put a lot of effort into making parents aware of. I personally did career event at my son's school and we showed the dvd "Leave My Child Alone", talked to parents and students about some of the lies military recruiters may tell, etc. We had opt out forms there, and had 80 parents/students take them to file. Parents are usually appalled when we tell them the school is giving their minor child's info to recruiters. We know for sure we saved at least one kid that night who had been snagged by on of the recruiters. He took his information back to the recruiter's table and told him he wasn't interested. We know this because the recruiter came to our table and wanted to see what we were handing out. Of course, we told him he was welcome to take some of our literature and check it out. He was pretty pissed that he 'lost one'. I also protested outside the school on the day the recruiters were coming to talk to the students about their 'scholarship program'. I made a poster that said "Military lies don't add up. Check facts. Save your life'. I also passed out sheets with the website www.Objector.org for them to research. I was there before school started, so the kids were walking in past me (I was on the public sidewalk) and taking the info. Some of them were taking handfuls of the website info into the school and passing them out, then coming out to get more from me! The principal went ballistic and tried to throw me off the sidewalk, even called the police, but they couldn't do anything because I was on public property. She yelled at me that the 'military doesn't lie', I responded she had not been paying attention to all the evidence that this happens fairly often. She responded, "Well, everyone lies". I asked wasn't it her job to protect her students? She had come out with these asst. administrators, three of them, and said if I stepped off the sidewalk she would have me arrested. She stood there watching me for over and hour and a half while I was there, I am sure to see if she could nail me. I like to think I saved a couple kids that day.
:patriot:

[CorpGovActivist]

6. That Would've Made a Great YouTube!

Next time, take a video camera operator!

; )

- Dave

[kiteinthewind]

7. Yes, I never think of that! It all happened so quickly, actually, because I had been

fighting with the recruiters for two years to take my son off their lists. I had asked politely, to begin with, numerous time, then I started getting mad, then I went up to the recruiting office TWICE and asked them to take his name off-basically telling him they would get my son 'over my dead body'. They still kept calling. I pretty much didn't pick up when I saw the caller ID, or if there had been more earlier that same week, I would pick up and give them a piece of my mind. Not that that seemed to bother them. This particular day was in Sept. 2005 and I had just gotten back the day before from the antiwar protest in DC, and the lobbying that took place the next day. We had a van full of people, taking turns driving straight thru to KC area. I had actually heard one message from a recruiter from earlier in the day when I was sleeping, and then I was napping on the couch about 7:30 at night and I wake up to hear another recruiter leaving a message for my son that they will be coming to his high school to talk about their 'scholarship program'. I flew off the couch, grabbed the phone, and said some pretty nasty things. I was still pumped from the action in DC and he just messed with the wrong person. I got off the phone and called one of my friends at the Y&M committee and said, we gotta do something. She said it was too short of notice to plan anything, I should just make a poster and go on up there in the morning. So I did. They guys are really unbelievable. They leave messages like they are calling an old buddy, like they are FRIENDS with these kids. My son has never even spoken to one of them. Oh, and then the incentives they send in the mail; Get a gym bag, a key chain, or a fucking iTunes download, so we can talk to you about giving your freaking life to Criminal Bush? Unbelievable! Sorry for the rant!
:mad:

[HockeyMom]

4. Recruiters only allowed on campus during

Senior "Career Day", along with reps from colleges, trade schools, businesses. So, the recruiters have been known to hang out at the local fast food places and pizza parlors during student lunch times. This has caused a lot of backlash not just among parents, but the owners of the businesses as well. One local franchise owner went so far as to threaten to sue them if they didn't leave and never come back. My daughter has a friend who was a recruiter for a time and this is where he would go too.

We do not have JROTC in our school district.

As far as the opt out clause, it is well know in our district. In fact, I signed the form back in 2001 when my daughter was a Senior. I had heard about the students in NYC challenging this law and I found a copy of the form on the Internet and gave it to the school myself. I told several parents in my neighborhood about this and they did the same. It rapidly snowballed and not long afterwards, the school district began sending out copies of this form automatically.

The only thing I would say that parents need to be aware of is the fact that if your son or daughter turns 18 while they are still in HS, this form becomes null and void. Weeks after my daughter turned 18 in April of her Senior year, the calls started. Unfortunately, your child is going to have to deal with them on their own then. Please prepare them for this. It can get very ugly. Been there, done that.

[CorpGovActivist]

8. Before You Enlist! (on YouTube)

Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFsaGv6cefw

- Dave

[kiteinthewind]

9. Man, I just went and watched that. It is very powerful. Thanks for the link. nt