Army Recruiting - Please Help

IcansPotaFake32

IcansPotaFake32

O.G.
Sep 14, 2007
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#1
I was away the past few days visiting family in Vermont. Two of my cousins are younger and in high school. They were talking about the army recruiter always pressuring kids to join the army. I was appalled! I had seen a movie a few years back about how the army specifically targets poor towns and kids who they think are "easy targets".
I'm very upset about this. Like most people I know, I went to a high school where if you were interested in going to college or something alternative you went to see the guidance counselor and they discussed your interests and qualifications. If you were interested in let's say the army or a particular college or field the guidance counselor would then set up an interview.
To be clear I wouldn't want high schoolers to be recruited during school by college recruits either. Kids need to make their own decisions. I agree they need help along the way but I just feel that it is extremely inappropriate for the army to be targeting kids while in school.
The most upsetting part of all of this is that Vermont is a state with the most people in our Country who have died in the war...I can't help but think it's because so many kids are being aggressively recruited. They're told the perks about the army (paying for an education, traveling etc) and not necessarily all the truths.
I remember hearing a story about Jessica Lynch and how she joined because she has "always wanted to see a beach".
I support all of our troops regardless of how they joined but I just want the recruiters to be less aggressive. They need to keep out of schools unless they are invited. I want to do something about this. I want kids to be able to make informed decisions about their choices. What can be done?
 
#2
I don't think you can stop the recruiters from being so aggressive. I think this has been an issue for years. The recruiters have quotas to meet, there is a war going on and an economic depression. So they are going to be aggressive. However empowering kids in your area is something you could make a difference with. Through volunteer youth groups perhaps? I wouldn't get anti-military with any kids cuz that could cause issues. But, you could help kids see they have options and that is a great gift.
 
#3
The No Child Left Behind Act started by Bush allows recruiters to access children in public schools. School districts can refuse to allow them in, but in doing so, they lose federal funding. Parents have been upset by this for a few years. I believe there is a form that parents can sign that denies permission for their children to contacted by recruiters directly, but most public schools allow them to access kids on campus because they need the federal money.

Here's more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

snip

Facilitates military recruitment

NCLB (In section 9528) requires public secondary schools to provide military recruiters the same access to facilities as a school provides to higher education institution recruiters. Schools are also required to provide contact information for every student to the military if requested. If the school refuses to provide the information, that school can lose all of its federal funding until it provides such information. [47] Students or parents can opt out of having their information shared, and educational institutions receiving funding under the act are required to inform parents that they have this option.[48][49] Currently, many school districts have a generic opt out form which, if filled out and turned in, withholds students' information from college and job recruiters as well as the military. Section 9528 of the NCLB also states that military recruiters are permitted to speak to students as well as take them to various military functions, provide transportation to/from a recruiting office and to the school of the student and from school to the registered home address of the student as long as the student is of the age of 17 and the student provides consent.
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#4
My ex was an Army recruiter while we were dating. And, my current boyfriend's best friend is a recruiter for the Navy right now. I can tell you that the persistence of the recruiters is not their fault. It stems from 3 major issues:

(1) They are under paid and over worked. My ex would sometimes work 15+ hours per day trying to put people in the Army.
(2) They are given a quota of people to put in each month. If they do not meet this quota they are disciplined. At the end of the month, if his quota wasn't close to being met... he was VERY stressed and NOT fun to be around.
(3) Many of them are extremely stressed out. The Army puts a LOT of pressure on them to meet the quotas... and my ex's superiors even convinced him to lie to recruits about things in order to get them more convinced that joining was a good idea.

My ex was the type of guy who joined the Army to be in infantry. When we first met, he was in the 82nd airborne. Then, he got transferred to recruiting. We were both excited... we thought he would have SO MUCH EXTRA TIME for date nights, school, etc. It ended up being the exact opposite. The job totally changed his personality and was the #1 reason why we broke up.

My point is... don't blame the recruiters... blame the system. Until the conditions under which they work change... they will continue to be aggressive in finding people to join.
 
#5
they were recruiting hardcore in my school in OK and TX back in the 90's. It's not new.


Let me move this though as it's not a relationships type topic . . .


**quick reminder to keep this within our rules - no politics**
 
#7
Swanky Mama Of Three said:
they were recruiting hardcore in my school in OK and TX back in the 90's. It's not new.
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It's true that recruiting was going on in schools going back years and years... but what is different now is that schools lose funding if they decide to keep recruiters out, (because of No Child Left Behind, which did not exist before 2001), so the schools pretty much have NO choice....

This has been a huge issue in my area, since the schools have parents that are angry and don't want recruiters in the schools and yet the schools need their federal $$ badly....

I also know a lot about this because I was directly involved in this issue in my former job for Uncle Sam so I dealt with this issue on an almost daily basis.
 
#8
Why should the military be kept out of schools? They should be given the same opportunities that are given to colleges. I think it's so wrong that many schools shun the military. The kids need to be able to make an informed decision about their future, and to do that they should be given all angles. The military is a lifestyle choice just like college is. It's a great career path, will teach you a lot and will make you a better, stronger person.

When I was in high school, our guidance office overflowed with brochures and pamphlets about colleges. And in only one tiny corner were there a few postcard type pamphlets about the military. And when you spoke with the guidance councelors they never brought up the military, like to them it wasn't an option. Out of my graduating class, only me and 2 others chose to serve. That's a disappointment to me.

What is wrong that many colleges ban the recuriters from coming to campus, and many also ban the use of ROTC. It is an individual's choice to serve. No one can pressure them into it. I wasn't. There was no pressure at all. I understood it's a big commitment that you can't back away from. I raised my hand, took the oath, and have never looked back since. I am so proud of my choice and would do it again in a heartbeat.
 
#9
Roo said:
The No Child Left Behind Act started by Bush allows recruiters to access children in public schools. School districts can refuse to allow them in, but in doing so, they lose federal funding. Parents have been upset by this for a few years. I believe there is a form that parents can sign that denies permission for their children to contacted by recruiters directly, but most public schools allow them to access kids on campus because they need the federal money.

Here's more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

snip
Click to expand...


Roo, thank you for posting this. I didn't realize this was in the No Child Left Behind Act.
 
#10
Spooky07170 said:
Why should the military be kept out of schools? They should be given the same opportunities that are given to colleges. I think it's so wrong that many schools shun the military. The kids need to be able to make an informed decision about their future, and to do that they should be given all angles. The military is a lifestyle choice just like college is. It's a great career path, will teach you a lot and will make you a better, stronger person.

When I was in high school, our guidance office overflowed with brochures and pamphlets about colleges. And in only one tiny corner were there a few postcard type pamphlets about the military. And when you spoke with the guidance councelors they never brought up the military, like to them it wasn't an option. Out of my graduating class, only me and 2 others chose to serve. That's a disappointment to me.

What is wrong that many colleges ban the recuriters from coming to campus, and many also ban the use of ROTC. It is an individual's choice to serve. No one can pressure them into it. I wasn't. There was no pressure at all. I understood it's a big commitment that you can't back away from. I raised my hand, took the oath, and have never looked back since. I am so proud of my choice and would do it again in a heartbeat.
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What I am hearing is that there actually is a great deal of pressure on these kids to go on an interview and sign up for the army. I would be okay if there was literature in the guidance offices and army recruiters were making appointments with kids just like colleges but to be out and about during the school day targeting kids is unacceptable--for a college or an army recruiter. I am not saying they should be kept out of school but that army recruiters are over stepping their boundaries and it's not right. Let kids be informed the right way and the honest way.
I am glad you had a great experience serving your country (and mine). My cousin said that they keep bothering this one kid to join. This guy also stopped my cousin in the hallway (apparently he hangs around) and said he wants him to come in on an interview at 1:30 etc. "I expect to see you there". College recruiters don't hang around in hallways and don't keep aggressively focusing on the same kids.
I just want kids to be signing up for the right reasons. You made it out alive but there are people who don't. I don't want my cousin or anyone elses cousin or child signing up just because they like the idea of traveling or because some overly aggressive recruiter made the army sound like it was a picnic.
 
#11
shoot they have been doing that for years, when i was in high school they did that, and thats probably been every bit of 10 years ago. I don't really have a problem with it, it's not like they force anyone into it, they just would come and stand around at lunch and if you wanted to talk to them you went and talked to them, if not they never seemed to bother anyone.
 
#12
IcansPotaFake32 said:
What I am hearing is that there actually is a great deal of pressure on these kids to go on an interview and sign up for the army. I would be okay if there was literature in the guidance offices and army recruiters were making appointments with kids just like colleges but to be out and about during the school day targeting kids is unacceptable--for a college or an army recruiter. I am not saying they should be kept out of school but that army recruiters are over stepping their boundaries and it's not right. Let kids be informed the right way and the honest way.
I am glad you had a great experience serving your country (and mine). My cousin said that they keep bothering this one kid to join. This guy also stopped my cousin in the hallway (apparently he hangs around) and said he wants him to come in on an interview at 1:30 etc. "I expect to see you there". College recruiters don't hang around in hallways and don't keep aggressively focusing on the same kids.
I just want kids to be signing up for the right reasons. You made it out alive but there are people who don't. I don't want my cousin or anyone elses cousin or child signing up just because they like the idea of traveling or because some overly aggressive recruiter made the army sound like it was a picnic.
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Well my first hand experience was different. I had to go searching the recruiters out because you couldn't learn anything about them at school. And when I expressed interest to the recruiters, I wasn't hounded by them. I was by colleges though. I had already made my decision to serve halfway through senior year so I never asked for any information whatsoever from schools. But my mailbox was flooded with all kinds of info even though I never asked for it or wanted it. It's my opinion that recruiters don't push any more than colleges do. And it's my honest opinion that the military is more accepted in certain areas than others. There are many areas that have a strong bias against the military and those who serve.

Honestly I think anyone who enlists thinking there is no chance of them going to war or that the Army is a day at summer camp, they are a fool. Our military has one sole purpose, and that is to support and defend. It's the military, not girl scouts. Everyone should have a basic understanding of that when they talk to a recruiter. And if they don't then its probably not the best place for them.
 
#14
Spooky07170 said:
Honestly I think anyone who enlists thinking there is no chance of them going to war or that the Army is a day at summer camp, they are a fool. Our military has one sole purpose, and that is to support and defend. It's the military, not girl scouts. Everyone should have a basic understanding of that when they talk to a recruiter. And if they don't then its probably not the best place for them.
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I agree with this. I served six years in the Air Force. I knew I wanted to serve but also knew I wasn't cut out for infantry so I researched, asked people I knew who were in the military (which was hard to seek out, because there's hardly any military in my hometown) and decided on the Air Force. Even then, I knew if something huge went down, there was always the possibility that I would be involved in a war. I was very young, but still knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park, but that's what made it worth while and challenging. I got out almost 7 years ago, and I'm so glad I joined, because it gave me so many incredible opportunities that I would have never had before. There's no way I would be where I am today if I hadn't joined.

Also, one thing to remember is that joining the military isn't easy, even if you have an aggressive recruiter. Most friends and family don't understand why you would do such a thing and often give you a hard time. Many people that have no clue about the military start telling you what it's like (although everyone's experience is completely different). I even had a girl ask me "aren't you against killing people?" It's very misunderstood because the military and the jobs in the military are so varied. It's not all infantry and war, especially if you're not joining the army and Marines.
 
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