{news} [Fwd: [GPUS-PAX] Fw: Military intrusions into schools]

[Elizabeth M. Brancato]

*Military intrusions into high schools* :*"Beware Monster.com *"

April 8, 2005 * *
by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst at 
http://www.antiwar.com/whitehurst/?articleid=5491'

*...M*y youngest child is 17, and the military has joined forces with a 
name that young people have grown to trust - Monster.com 
<http://www.monster.com/> - in a terribly deceptive program it owns and 
operates called "Making College and Career Count." After the 
presentation in the auditorium, the perky speaker instructed all 
students to fill out the conveniently detachable back cover of booklet 
titled "My Career!," and hand it in before returning to class.

How very convenient for the military. Now that convincing teens to go 
fight in a war where most of the soldiers killed are young has hit a 
wall, it's essential to get those kids' names and numbers. What better 
way to gather that information for your recruiters and/or an imminent 
draft board, than to do it at their high school while talking about 
college rather than the military, thus raising no red flags? Kids are 
such easy targets.

Because we've talked about the ways in which young people are deceived 
into signing up for what may prove to be their deaths 
<http://www.counterpunch.org/whitehurst02172005.html>, and about the 
military's need for identifying information in the coming draft 
<http://www.antiwar.com/orig/whitehurst.php?articleid=4789>, my daughter 
opted not to share her name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and 
date of birth.

Sadly, however, most students won't notice that all those questions 
about students' plans for college and career are a cover for the /real/ 
questions, which are embedded near the end: "If you are considering a 
military career, which of the following describes your plans?" and 
"Which of the armed services would you prefer?"

Neither will most kids notice or care about fine print at the bottom, 
printed in a font size so small that few will bother trying to read it: 
"To learn more about what kinds of information you might receive ... 
visit www.YourFuture.org <http://www.yourfuture.org/>," which means 
they'll never see the "privacy" statement, which makes very clear where 
their "private" information is going:

/"Dear Student: The most important benefit of participating in this 
voluntary survey and research project is the information you and your 
family will receive from colleges and universities. In some cases, you 
and your family may also receive information from non-profit and 
for-profit organizations and government agencies, including offers for 
educational products and services such as student loans and financial 
aid, college admissions and tutorial services, extra-curricular 
enrichment and recognition programs, career, employment *and military 
opportunities*, and camps. NRCCUA does not share your information with 
commercial marketers offering to sell you non-education-related products 
and services." /(emphasis added)

*It Gets Worse*

*B*ut that's not the worst of it. If you visit Monster.com's 
www.MakingItCount.com <http://www.makingitcount.com/>, the Web site for 
that duplicitous and self-serving "workbook" that my daughter and her 
classmates were told to fill out, you'll see that college isn't all 
that's being sold.

On MakingItCount's pages "Ways to Pay" and "Scholarships," Army links 
are prominently displayed. When you click on those links, you 
immediately see references to the costs of college, and how enlisting in 
the military can (supposedly) eliminate the worries of money-strapped 
families who want their kids to have a college degree:

Aimed at the kids:/ /

/"Whether you're a college-bound high school student or already 
attending a college or university, Army ROTC has scholarships available. 
Scholarships are awarded based on a student's merit and grades, not 
financial need. Army ROTC scholarships are valuable in many ways:/

/"Two-, three-, and four-year scholarship options based on the time 
remaining to complete your degree./

/"*Scholarship amounts vary*./

/"Additional allowances pay for books and fees."/ (emphasis added)

Aimed at the parents/: /

/"By serving the country and protecting our freedoms, your son or 
daughter will be building a better future for others as well as for him 
or herself. A future full of pride, honor, and opportunities. But the 
benefits don't end there. Your son or daughter can also earn *money for 
college*, gain training in a multitude of skill areas, receive excellent 
healthcare benefits and take advantage of a wide variety of career 
options, just to name a few."/ (emphasis added)

The Army National Guard Web site is far more exciting visually, however, 
and pushes the pay-for-college angle with tidbits such as:

/"Did you know? /

/"You can receive over $60,000 for college or technical school education. /

/"You can receive up to $1,500 a year to help repay existing student 
loans. The Army National Guard offers enlistment bonuses up to $10,000./

/"Higher Education is Within Your Reach./

/"Don't let cost get in the way of your higher education. In the Army 
National Guard, you can receive the funding necessary while you gain the 
experience of a lifetime."/

High school students aren't the only ones targeted by sophisticated 
manipulation by military recruiters, as reflected by the new (and 
decidedly desperate) emphasis on using storytelling by satisfied 
customers whose children enlisted 
<http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&u=/usatoday/20050405/ts_usatoday/armymarinerecruitersshiftfocustowaryparents&printer=1> 
(see "Meet the Families" 
<https://www.goarmy.com/about/for_parents/meet_the_families.jsp> on 
Monster.com's "Making It Count" Army link). We who understand what can 
happen to children who enlist in Mr. Bush's endless wars have an 
obligation to help educate parents, particularly low-income parents, 
about the slick new appeals that are beginning to target /them./ These 
emotionally arousing ads play on any parent's love for their child and 
hopes for his or her success... but we must remind them that not every 
soldier's parent has reason to be a happy customer. 
<http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/sheehan1.html>

Pardon me for having no patience with dirty tricks played on children 
and their parents, but this latest scam, perpetrated in high schools 
across America, is simply unconscionable. Every person who cares about 
children and families should speak out against the newest in a long line 
of military intrusions into our public schools, which increasingly erode 
parents' trust in educators to safeguard their children during school 
hours.