Predators in the High Schools
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| Sat, 09-30-2006 - 7:32am |
With school just getting started I wanted to remind parents that the "No Child Left Behind Act" requires schools to release the private information of students, including home address and telephone number, to military recruiters unless the school has received an "opt out" form from the parents. There is a deadline, so act on this soon. You can get the opt out from from your school or google it and you can find it on the web. If your school did not notify you of your option to opt out this is a violation of federal law and you should contact your local school board and demand a notification be sent to all parents.
Beware, the Army has increased the number of recruiters by 2,000 this year and is offering signing bonuses of up to $40,000 in order to entice your kids to join and they are targeting kids as young as 16 years old. Last year they hired a company known for it's success in marketing t-shirts and cds' to kids to help in their recruiting efforts. Recruiters are not known for being ethical. If your child has decided to join the military, make sure he gets all the promises made to him in writing and have an attorney look it over before he signs the final paperwork.
If your child signed up for delayed enlistment, they probably told him he had entered into a binding legal contract, that is not true and he can feel free to change his mind at any time and considering the worsening situation in Iraq and Afghanistan he may want to reconsider.
If your child is dead set on joining the military you would do well to have him join either the Air Force or Navy. They have higher standards that he would have to meet and he won't get the big bonus, but he probably won't die in the desert.
You can help stop the war by helping reduce the number of kids joining the Army. There is no way they will bring back the draft, and without new blood they'll have to throw in the towel.

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weeeelllllll, anonajohn, you're back.
While I agree a military career should be an informed choice made by people much older than 16, I hardly support the idea that a recruiter is a "predator". The military is a noble and honourable profession and for many has led to a great education, experience more diverse than many jobs and a feeling of service and positive contribution to society. Its not a career for everyone, that is true, but its hardly worthy of the derision that is implicit in your posting.
There are no guarantees in life. A man could get a job driving a truck and find himself killed on the road (actually far more men die this way than in the army). To imply that a military career is certain death in the desert is not accurate and unfair and hurtful to those of us who have family and friends who are serving or have served.
Because
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You couldn't be more wrong with those statements.
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You couldn't be more wrong with those statements.
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where do you think i'm wrong...in that they won't bring back the draft or that they won't throw in the towel regardless of enlistment numbers?
polls show a clear majority of americans no longer support the war....that is why i think the draft would be political suicide and congress would move to block the prez if he should try to bring it back
similarly i think it will be politically impossible for congress to keep funding the war if enlistment numbers drop even further than they already have and the body count continues to rise.
Thank you for the service your children are doing our country.
These are the main two misstatements of yours.
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If you're looking for serious support for your position, you've probably come to the wrong place. You've alienated so many people here in the past that even if you had a legitimate argument, I doubt anyone would listen.... and btw, I'm against the war but still find your statements ridiculous.
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"It's ironic to me that our military personnel
"One of the prices we pay for having the right to free speech is to hear things that we don't always like."
I completely agree.
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