Irked
LeaveMyChildAlone.org is encouraging parents to throw a party and, essentially, gang up on school officials in an effort to keep military recruiters away from our kids.
If you don’t like the military, share your feelings with your kid. Otherwise, shut the hell up and let kids who are considering all their options have the opportunity to meet with recruiters from all branches of the military as well as the college folks who visit high schools all around the country.
I’m tired of a small group of people telling my children that the military is evil. I’m tired of these same folks blaming America and/or George Bush for everything wrong in the world.
Narrow-minded…that’s what they are. That’s why they no longer deserve to call themselves Liberals.
Call me “Irked” from now on.
And, Brenda? You’ll have to go to the page to post now.
So they are concerned about military recruiters being a big problem in the schools?
It does make you wonder if they have the same concerns when a school district removes God, espouses a homosexual agenda, aproves of abortion, sex education, or evolution. Of course, it makes me wonder if these parents would even allow the school district to show the true face of the radical terrorist agenda?
Comment by David — 2005/05/27 @ 17:59
The recruiters would be fine, if they were only presenting it as one among many options. But they aren’t. Look at the numerous law suits and “administrative” actions around the country taken against recruiters who make false promises, lie, coerce, and otherwise manipulate kids who often are without other outside guidance.
It would be great if all kids had parents that are involved in their lives, and know what’s going on, but they don’t.. and it isn’t fair that they should suffer for it.
Especially when you sign a contract that you no longer qualify for protections of the US Constitution in place of an archaic and sexist document called “The Uniform Code of Military Justice”. And once in, you can’t simply “Change your mind”. Unlike college.
Comment by sillynun — 2005/05/27 @ 18:02
It’s amazing. We expect kids to be adult enough to have sex safely, have abortions without their parents’ knowledge, you name it. But when the military recruiters are on campus, that’s “manipulating kids who often are without outside guidance.”
The fact that there are some crappy parents out there is no reason for banning military recruiting.
Comment by Steverino — 2005/05/28 @ 13:13
It’s not the crappy parents, it the fact that once you sign a paper you can not back out.. you can’t change your mind.. and considering how many crappy recruiters who we are now finding out are manipulating, lieing, and otherwise playing fast and loose with irrevocable decisions is why they need to be banned.
You sign up for college or voc school and you figure out it’s not for you, or the college recruiter lied, you can leave and get on with your life.
You sign up for the military, and find it’s not for you, or the recruiter lied, and you might be lucky enough to get out in 3 years (if they don’t extend your committment without your permission) with your life and all of your limbs.
Comment by sillynun — 2005/05/28 @ 23:44
I just have a problem with the dissemination of private information. Like it or not, children are minors until they are 18 years old or are otherwise emacipated.
If a parent wants their child to join the military, it should be up to the PARENT to see that their child enlists or is given the information to make a decision about it. And again, this entails the PARENTS doing their job and exercising parental skills and judgment to better their children. Sometimes, that just isn’t likely to happen.
Neither the militry nor the church belong in our schools. That of course is just my opinion.
Comment by Joni — 2005/05/29 @ 11:38
And to be fair, I visited leavemychildrenalone.org and one of the first things the site proclaimed was that “the infernal Leave No Child Behind Act has a sneaky Pete section requiring high schools to turn over student information to military recruiters” yet they don’t cite to that section. I downloaded the over 600 page Act that this is based on, the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” I’m sure that “section” is in there somewhere, but it would go to their credibility if they actually pointed it out!
Comment by Joni — 2005/05/29 @ 12:00
1) Recruiters from colleges have access to our high school kids.
2) Recruiters from the military should have equal access when it comes to offering options to the same populations.
3) As much as we’d like to believe that any and every child could afford college, not all can, and for some, college isn’t the best option for them anyway. The same applies to the military – it’s not the best option for everyone.
4) We don’t get “Private Benjamin” recruiters anymore. They stopped that practice a long time ago.
5) I don’t know a single kid – ages 4 and up – who doesn’t understand that the military involves weapons training and the possibility of war.
6) The training offered in the military is, more often than not, applicable to life outside the military. Also, having served in the military, the G.I. Bill applies to all who want to further their education.
7) It still requires parent permission for a child under the age of 18 to enlist.
While I appreciate everyone’s perspective, I’m a firm believer that the military is an option that benefits a portion of the youth population.
What bothers me most is that there is a portion of our society that feels they can empirically decide what is best for all our kids. Unless those people are willing to pay for the education of all (not through taxes, but straight from their pockets), they need to give kids a chance to explore their options.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2005/05/29 @ 12:50
Isn’t it funny how all the liberals give such lip-service to “choice”, and yet they don’t want to allow our students to choose for themselves on this, or many other issues. A bit of hypocrisy I think. But why should that surprise me.
Comment by M+ — 2005/05/30 @ 08:45
I’m not a liberal. Just in case anyone was wondering. I’m a conservative. The argument that the college recruiters have access and the military should have the same isn’t a valid comparison. Yale, Northwestern, Miami U, etc do not have recruiting offices in shopping centers in many, many towns across the country. The military does, there are numerous local offices where a young man or woman can go to find out more about the military. That’s not to say that they shouldn’t be allowed to come and speak, they should be able to, I do not think that they should be allowed to sign anyone up on the spot, nor do I think a school should be permitted to either. There are only so many branches of the service and I’d like to think that any intelligent young person is aware of the branches and would then seek out whatever information they would need.
The recruiting system has a problem, the military has acknowledged it and they’re working on it. I hate to see this turn into a liberal/conservative spitting match.
Comment by Mickey — 2005/06/01 @ 03:01
Any organization that shows up on campus should be checking student transcripts and the students should be collecting information. Signing anyone up on the spot shouldn’t happen – for college or the military. Parent involvement is a MUST. A minor is required to have a parent’s signature for enrolling for anything.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2005/06/02 @ 01:13
The best response to all this recruiting banter can be found here. Read this post thoroughly. Twice. Thrice if you must.
Anyone who looks at the military needs to understand that. And, anyone who doesn’t get it, doesn’t belong there.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2005/06/02 @ 03:50
The parents should be asked if they want their children talking to a recruiter. We went into this war based on a lie. And we are getting slaughtered and they are no better off than they were before. They should be honest with the kids my son was in Iraq for over a year and he is changed. He said he would not recommend his sister or brother joining.He thought when he signed up he would have money to pay for school, okay he was sent over not long after that his best friend was killed the first month. Every time the phone rings you wonder if they are calling about your child. and I will bet these people that say we belong over there, their children are not in the service. The question we should ask is these kids are signing up because they are telling them they are going to get this big bonus and college paid for, how many of these kids think it is worth when their friends die and won’t be able to go to college or in their mind can’t forget what happened over there and what they have seen? Is this worth any amount of money our great government is offering? Ifit is so worth it,how come our governments kids are not over there our presidents children included. I thank God my child came back alive, I wish I could take away all he has seen. Now recruiters be honest with these kids and their parents some of these kids will not come back alive and your whole family will be turned upside down while your child is over there fighting to stay alive in a war that should never have taken place.
Comment by Brenda — 2005/06/22 @ 08:11
Brenda – Sorry, your rant holds no water
You can’t honestly tell me that anyone over the age of 5 doesn’t understand that military service (especially right now) involves the potential for armed conflict.
Your bitterness over your son’s service really doesn’t honor the commitment he made.
If you had a say in his enlistment, if he was under 18, you should have spoken up before the papers were signed. If he was over 18 and didn’t bother to run this past you, enlisted on his own, and then regrets his decision – 1) he has no one to blame but himself, and 2) if he did this without talking to you, it says a lot about the type of relationship you have.
Comment by Da Goddess — 2005/06/22 @ 16:08
You are missing the point, these kids are promised a big bonus,they do not tell them they may not receive it because they may not make it back alive and these children grew up in a whole different world guns were games played on a video game. This is real life over there. And I noticed there was not a mention of what I said about us going in based on a lie. Come on, there were no weapons of mass destruction.I do support our soldiers fully. But lying to them and the American people is not what I consider moral values. What exactly are they dying for over there? And when will we pull out, how many more have to die. You are damn right I am angry. We are all being lied to and misled.
Comment by Brenda — 2005/06/23 @ 06:40