Recruit Me Not

As the school year approaches, the issue of military recruiters in school is coming into the forefront again. This is an issue that bothers me as a teacher, and when I see the recruiters at lunch, I always stand near them. I have caught several in lies and corrected them immediately, earning me several dirty looks and a conference with the principal, whom I informed that I would not allow recruiters to blatantly lie to my students, even if it got me fired. It nearly did, but there was nothing they could do to me since I hadn't actually done anything wrong. Students are impressionable and recruiters are not as honest as some might think. I really believe that a parent or school official should be present when a child speaks to a recruiter. I also believe that the "opt-out" form used to keep recruiters and other outsiders from getting student information is not always used correctly. In some schools, if a student does not want to be contacted by a recruiter, he or she may not have their personal information or picture in the yearbook. What kind of message is that sending to our kids? Your choice is to be harassed by recruiters or not be in your high school yearbook. Recruiters should only be allowed in schools if there is a career fair. They should only be allowed to contact students that REQUEST information.

How Far is Too Far

With a shortage of troops in Iraq, recruiters are becoming desperate. They are lying to students, encouraging students to lie to the government, and engaging in a vast array of inappropriate or illegal behavior. And we lie these people into our schools. How right is it for a recruiter to speak to an underage student without a parent being present? The allure of a uniform is sometimes overwhelming when it comes with the promise of money and college. Shouldn't a responsible adult advocate for the student be around to put those things into perspective? I have taught middle school and high school. I cringe when I see a recruiter. It terrifies me to think that they will be preying on younger students. I cannot abide by having any child I know spoken to by someone with an obvious agenda without a parent's permission or supervision. I wouldn't want a pastor speaking to my child without my permission, and chances are, a man of God isn't going to try and convince my child that getting shot at and possibly killed is a viable option for obtaining a college education. Schools have an obligation to protect our children when they can. In this case, they can.