The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Should the military be allowed to recruit in high schools?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Kate Rowan on -
Yeah, I do. There are TONS of kids out there that have no idea what they are capable of. My husband is a teacher, and every week he has stories about kids being shocked to find out that things like student loans are even available to them. They get so little help in career planning, and the military can give so much to kids. I think recruiting can be very good in the high school setting.
Kate
www.idreamloudly.com
-
Permalink Reply by Sarah on -
It always bothered me actually. Even when I was a high school student myself I couldn't help but feel that the kids they were targetting probably didn't have the maturity or life experience to have a full understanding of the uglier aspects of the job, and obviously that's not something the recruiters were going to help shed light on.
-
Permalink Reply by Sarah on
-
I just feel like we don't necessarily make the most informed or the best decisions for us as teens, and joining the military is at best a pretty big commitment (although I do understand there are benefits) and at worst can put you in devastating, traumatic and harmful situations. It's just not a decision I would want anyone to make lightly.
It just doesn't make sense to me to be recruiting kids who are too young to be considered mature enough to vote for the government they'll be fighting/working for.
-
Permalink Reply by cooper on -
No, because just as we know the zip code gives an indication of the quality of education, we know that the military targets disadvantaged youth, those who have no advocates.
Students who don't have many opportunities might see the military as a good opportunity, and indeed for some it might be the way to go, but many of these students do not have the guidance they could use (to decipher the information they are receiving), in order to help them make an informed decision, a decision in which all the pros and cons have been weighed.
-
Permalink Reply by cooper on
-
"I disagree when you say that the military targets disadvantaged youths. The military targets people who are more likely to sign up. PERIOD. Why waste time trying to recruit a senator's son when they probably won't even consider it";"
For the sake of argument you just proved my point, but seriously there is something wrong when a military recruits children and doesn't at least require them to have an advocate with them, an adult, preferably an educated one. We know for a fact that the brains of 18 year old males are not completely developed -far from it, and their decision making skills are at least 7 years from being stable. What are they thinking. These are not our grandfather's wars, these are totally different.
-
Permalink Reply by Martin S on -
Absolutely. As should vocational schools and traditional universities.
-
Permalink Reply by Talia M on -
Yes, but as a public institution they should be recruiting from ALL public high schools, not just the ones with the most disadvantaged students.
That said, the military has provided a lot of opportunities, training, and jobs to people I've known. I think it's one of many options that high school students should know about.
-
Permalink Reply by Aggykryss on -
Nooooo.
When I was in HS, I got into a yelling match with a recruiter who was stationed on our campus a few weeks after 9/11, telling the kids who were flocking to him in a patriotic fervor that it was pretty unlikely there would be a war going on... when clearly anyone could have seen not only the Afghan war but the Iraq war coming miles away.
I love and respect many military members, and think that the military does many great things for its service members these days (and yes, some bad things, too), but I wish that the military wouldn't target high schoolers. Like someone else said, most of these kids aren't even old enough to vote.
© 2012 Created by Lisa.
