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Will They or Won't They

runrig on 2004-06-15T05:33:52

I think whatever magazine I happen to pick up, there's bound to be one or two articles at least slightly interesting. And so it was when I read a Family Circle article titled "Can Your Child Be Drafted?"

And for the first time, young women as well as men can expect to be called...our troops are spread too thinly...dramatically reduced recruitment and reenlistment levels...The No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush, includes a provision that if secondary schools fail to release the names, addresses and phone numbers of students to military recruiters, they will lose their Federal funding.

Yep, it was in Family Circle. Along with recipes, and diet, decorating, beauty and fashion tips. Sorry, no actual link to the article, dead tree version only. But I did see this bumper sticker the other day:

Anyone but Bush in 2004

Update: The best link I could find relating to this

Will they or won't they

monsterzero on 2004-06-15T15:41:07

I decided to check on this and here it is:

SEC. 9528. ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.

              (1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

                        (2) CONSENT- A secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the student's name, address, and telephone listing described in paragraph (1) not be released without prior written parental consent, and the local educational agency or private school shall notify parents of the option to make a request and shall comply with any request.

Now, Item 2 (CONSENT) gives us parents an out (does it not) Could'nt I just notify the school not to release the information without my consent and when they request my consent just refuse :-)

Re:Will they or won't they

runrig on 2004-06-15T16:12:09

Item 2 (CONSENT) gives us parents an out

It certainly seems to. I bet they are relying on ignorance of item 2, both on the part of parents and school administrators (I was ignorant of it myself until now, thanks). When my kids hit high school, I'll make sure the school is aware of item 2 (and my written request).

Re:Will they or won't they

thisbox71 on 2004-09-15T00:16:57

Since when does recruiting = drafting?

The sky is falling.

I agree recruiting != drafting

runrig on 2004-09-15T16:51:52

But there were other parts of the article that mentioned possibly drafting if recruitment goes down significantly, which explains the article title.

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

thisbox71 on 2004-09-16T05:37:30

A draft has always been a possibility. By law all males must register for selective service upon turning 18. This is nothing new.

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

runrig on 2004-09-16T16:25:23

A draft has always been a possibility.
What's your point? Many things are possible. Factors which affect the likelyhood of things are a concern to some people. Maybe they're not a concern to you. In which case, nothing to see here, move along.

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

runrig on 2004-09-16T17:21:33

Factors which affect the likelyhood of things are a concern to some people
Or so-called experts discussing the likelyhood of things is of interest to some people (when Senator so-and-so says it's likely, it means alot more than when you or I say it's possible but I don't have the article handy anymore, so I won't try to quote). I think it's interesting that the act that I mentioned in the first place would probably increase recruitment and make a draft less likely. Which might be considered a good thing. Except that some (me included) consider it an unacceptable way to go about recruiting.

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

thisbox71 on 2004-09-16T19:57:10

I can understand your reasoning, the only place we differ is: I don't consider it a bad thing to look to schools for recruiting. The military is not a place you want just a bunch of guys with guns. There's some high tech things going on and some serious training. I remember in high school I took the ASVAB test to see how I could be best used if I chose to join the military.

Service to your country is not a bad thing. And many people choose to go into the military straight out of high school to get money for college.

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

runrig on 2004-09-16T20:47:52

Maybe where we differ is how they look to schools for recruiting. I'm not against serving (I almost did it myself), and I'm not against them showing up for career day and handing out info or getting people to sign up and ask for more info, or giving schools the info for the kids to look at when the kids are looking for career/college info. I'm just against having my kids info being handed to recruiters without my explicit permission (and slightly miffed that I have to expend the effort to revoke the implicit permission).

Re:I agree recruiting != drafting

thisbox71 on 2004-09-16T21:01:19

Now I agree with your reasoning there, I don't mind them coming to the school and passing out information, but having the school give the info to the military for a dossier is kinda... wierd. We pay those taxes, we shouldn't have to give them marketing info for that money.

I still don't think this is leading us any closer to a draft which was my main comment. I had not thought about the privacy issue.

My wife and I are home-schooling our kids, so I guess I won't have to worry about it. If the gov't wants to give us funding to teach them, I'll give up the info :)

Re:Will they or won't they

runrig on 2004-09-16T17:36:16

The link I added at the top suggests sending a certified letter to the school district headquarters and a copy to the school principal.