Parents of teens: info you need to know about MIlitary recruitment

[fourgrtkidos]

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 gives a mandate to schools to publish your child's personal information to local recruitment offices in order for the school to keep their funding.

You need to know what you can do to keep your child off this published list. You do not need recruiters courting your sons and daughters.

www.leavemychildalone.org

[fourgrtkidos]

bump

[fourgrtkidos]

anyone visit the site?

what d'ya think?

[PajamaMama]

I visited and I just sent a link to a long list of people. I am not usually a spammer; I don't send jokes, urban legends and the like, so I hope the people I sent it to will take a minute to read my email and check out the website. Thanks for sharing it.

[Lyricc]

Just adding my experiance to this.. I was in the Army, and had to work with recruiters before I went to my first duty station. although we had to "cold call" current high school students, and ask if they ever thought about joining, would like info, etc.. if someone said "no'.. we put it in the book, and never called again. very simple.. easier than the "do not call list" for telemarketers. You could keep your child off that list, but at the same time, all you have to say is "no".. and possibly, your child might someday want to serve..

[nolonger]

Thank you for posting this. I have forwarded the link, but did not send the letters for my own kids because they have never attended public school.

However, when my dd began taking classes at Community College, the recruitment literature began appearing in my home mailbox and P.O. box at a frantic rate, although she was actually living with my mother at the time. The subject of recruitment came up when I asked dd about sexual harassment and whether she was having trouble with college students hitting on her because they didn't know she was a minor.

I can't recall whether my fourteen year old's name has appeared on any of the recruitment literature, but I do know that even though he does not attend public school of community college and does not look much older than he is, he has been approached at the mall and at other teen hangouts.

Please talk to your children about military recruitment.

The only recruiting story I know by heart, and can effectively comment on, is my son Casey's. I have heard too many similar stories, however. When he was recruited in May 2000, he was promised the moon to get him to join, and he ultimately got an early grave. He was promised a $20,000 signing bonus: he received $4500 and was told that he could use the rest for college. Casey wanted to be a deacon in the Catholic Church, so when he enlisted in the Army, he was promised he could be a Chaplain's Assistant (don't believe the Army Band stories, either). When he got to boot camp, he was told that his promised specialty wasn't open, and he had the choice of being a Humvee mechanic or a cook. His recruiter told him he could finish college while in the military; he could never even get approval to take one class.

All of these broken promises mean nothing to me. One does, however. After Casey enlisted, he knew I was upset. He told me, "Mom, you don't have to worry, Sgt. (I forget his name) told me that since I scored so high on the ASVAB (military competency) test, I will never see combat, even if there is a war. I will only be in a support role."

Cindy Sheehan
[e-mail]
Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace

http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2005/08/1718380.php

[NiBeKa]

Thank you so much for posting this. Having twin 17 yo ds's I am frantic about the military getting ahold of them.: One is secure in himself and what he wants after leaving hs. The other has had bad girlfriend issues and I'm afraid very impressionable and swayable. I've already come down hard on 2 of his Marine cousins that are trying to talk him into joining. I'm so scared he'll join in a weak moment and regret it. They have been to the funeral of a former classmate killed in Iraq. It is my daily fear and I'm so upset that the recruiters are allowed inside the school.
To all the scared military Moms and those trying to keep their babes safe a bit longer.

[urchin_grey]

Thanks for that link. I'm not the parent of teen (I'm only 21!: ) but my 17yo sister has joined the army. I know its her decision but they have lied to her about so much stuff already and omitted a few other things that they should have told her. Oh, and one thing I'm LIVID about is that when she signed up they got ALL of the info of ALL of her family! They know my name, DS's name, DP's name, our address.... They even have our cell numbers, everything. I can't believe my sister gave them all our info like that and they even had the nerve to ask for it. :

Oh, and my parents are still getting calls for me THREE and half years after I graduated from high school. My school gave all of our names and numbers to a Marine recruiter and they "check up" on us every year or so. The first time they called my mom was like "uhhhh, she hasn't lived here in over a year and she's PREGNANT so I don't think she's interested".

[talk de jour]

Oh, my God.. that Cindy Sheehan quote is heartbreaking.

When I was in HS, my Navy-recruit friend REFUSED to believe me that it was possible to block the schools from giving out your info. :

[papercranegirl]

My MIDDLE SCHOOLER had to sit through their propaganda today. They required ALL band, chorus, and orchestra members to attend a concert by the Army band and chorus. then they tried to sell them on opportunities for musicians in the Army. I was livid.

When I found out we talked about not giving them any information and not signing anything until we had an opportunity to discuss things as a family. I also told her that just because they promise one thing doesn't mean that they have to follow through. My friend's son was a trumpet player in the honor guard for 2 years and is now in Iraq.

Middle school, people, MIDDLE SCHOOL!

[mommystinch]

Thank you for this I hope I can find it again when I need it most!

[QuestionGal]

I believe that there is a form that you can fill out and you check a box that indicates you do not want your information shared. As a teacher all our information is supposed to be open access but if I check a certain box all they know is my name. The parents have a similar form, at our school the form can be picked up at the registrar's office at anytime. (you usually fill it out when registering a new student).

The military kept calling my house (even after i was in college). I finally said something along the lines of "she died, please don't call again" and they quit calling. Morbid I know, but it worked!

[lisser]

My experience w/ the recruiters is THEY WONT LEAVE YOU ALONE!! I've been out of highschool for almost 10 years now (really?! where has time gone) but they called and called and called. I said no EVERY TIME. Finally I had had it, and I told the guy I was NOT interested in joining the military, because I might break a nail (yes I REALLY said that). They never called again.

Lisser

[Pandora114]

Question: Would any of you still have issue with Military recruitment if there was NOT anything going on in Iraq? If GOP wasn't in power?

I find this loathing and disgust towards the military extremely hurtful as a military spouse, even though my husband is a member of the military of another country, he served with American naval personell during Operation Apollo and the like.

[Storm Bride]

Pandora - I'm not in the US, either. I have no issues with having a military and certainly don't look down on the military as a profession. However, I have strong objections to people being lied to in order to get them to join an organization that could result in their deaths. (I'd feel the same way if we were talking about coal mining or something like that.) I have huge objections to recruiters continuing to contact people who have already said they're not interested. (I also have this objection with telemarketers.)

I don't object to the military...but if military recruitment is lying to teenagers, making promises they won't keep, and harassing people who have already refused service, I object to that. I think that's really what this thread is about - more than it's about Iraq.

[Pandora114]

there's something missing though, there is always three sides to the story, Their side, your side and the truth.

The recruiter *COULD* Very well say "yeah there are openings in this trade, go ahead!" but by the time the whole thing is said and done and the process is finished, there are no more openings in said trade. Has anyone every heard of a remuster? *shakes head* My DH wanted to be avionics when he first signed up. When he was doing all this singing up and whatnot, there were still a few AVS positions left, they Told him that he was able to be AVS..well after his whole signup stuff was said and done, the AVS Positions filled up. He said "Fine I'll be a supply tech for a bit and put in for a remuster when I can"

It wasn't the end of the world that he didn't get the trade he wanted originally. He sucked it up, took the crappy trade, and did his best, and managed to get his remuster.

Does the American military even HAVE an option to Remuster???? Or is that one of the many perks that we have up here that they dont...

[Jane]

My problem with military recruitment is when kids get mislead. I am from a military family, so I respect the services and think there are good opportunities. However, I know the things my friends believed when they entered. It doesn't matter if the recruiter told them stuff with wiggle room, they really belived they'd be stationed at the base near to their mother (didn't happen in any case), or that they'd get that money for college with no financial contribution from themselves (you have to contribute), or that they'd "for sure" be a ranger.
Yes, I have one friend who was completely satisfied with his recruiting experience. He was 24, and he went in hoping to qualify for sub duty after training. He knew he was going to have to qualify, and he knew he'd be moving somewhere far away (turned out to be Maryland). He didn't qualify, but enjoyed his eventual assignment.

[Pandora114]

Originally Posted by Apricot

My problem with military recruitment is when kids get mislead. I am from a military family, so I respect the services and think there are good opportunities. However, I know the things my friends believed when they entered. It doesn't matter if the recruiter told them stuff with wiggle room, they really belived they'd be stationed at the base near to their mother (didn't happen in any case), or that they'd get that money for college with no financial contribution from themselves (you have to contribute), or that they'd "for sure" be a ranger.
Yes, I have one friend who was completely satisfied with his recruiting experience. He was 24, and he went in hoping to qualify for sub duty after training. He knew he was going to have to qualify, and he knew he'd be moving somewhere far away (turned out to be Maryland). He didn't qualify, but enjoyed his eventual assignment.

the thing is were they acctually told this by the recruiter or did they just go in assuming?

As I said there are three sides to every story.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by Pandora114

the thing is were they acctually told this by the recruiter or did they just go in assuming?

Yes.

(I hate it when my husband does that to me...answer an either-or question with a single answer)

They wanted it to be so, and were encouraged to think so by the recruiter, and the end result is that they were convinced by the time they went to MEPS.

I wish military recruitment were like medical informed consent. "Here are the statistics - here are the bases, here is how many men get stationed at their first choice, here is how many want that assignement, here are the actual numbers accepted, etc."

I actually believe the military is good enough to get people with the truth! There are some fabulous opportunities.

[MoebiusOne]

The recruiter does not promise the moon. Usually potential recruits EXPECT the moon. First off I want to point out that joining the military is an individual choice. Please do not restrict your children from considering ANY kind of employment. The key is to be informed, don't just ask the recruiting sergeant, his job is to process recruits as quickly as possible, especially when there is a war effort. Call a local base and ask for the unit orderly room, ask for regulations and directives regarding recruiting procedures and benefits. Or better yet, see if someone you know in the military can do that for you. I joined as the 3rd generation of military service in my family. I knew exactly what I was getting into. I did not get the trade I wanted going into it, but I knew the procedure to make it happen later on. And it happened. But the onus was on me to do the dirty work. Now if your child decides they want to join the military, ask them if they've made an informed decision, and if they did, CONGRATULATE them for being prepared to take on the burden of defending the rights and freedoms of you, your family, your friends and millions of strangers the world over.

"I disagree with what you say, but am willing to lay down my life for your right to say it" -Voltaire