Of course the No Child Left Behind Act was already controversial enough, for them to write in the Military Recruiting provisions means that your information is collected and handed directly to the recruiters whenever they request it.

This means that if you are not home, and your child was to answer the phone, a recruiter could communicate directly with your child.

Does anyone other than me think this is a good idea?

I don't have children yet, but I know I have a problem with it.

WOW, i had no idea about this. America needs to take a time out and needs to focus on what really matters, OUR COUNTRY and the future of it. how could something like this get passed in the 1st place?? Democracy my ass.

Yes I would have a problem with such a thing. Peer pressure is hard enough, like when a friend has signed up and puts pressure on his friends. I had to spend some time explaining to the kids what war was, and show them videos so they naturally decided their friend was on his own. Anyone soliciting volunteerism on that level from my children in my absense would be facing a very righteous and angry parent who would take them to whatever level necessary to expose this tactic.

I really don't see what the fuss is about. I teach at a high school and we have military recruiters come on campus every year. Just like the college recruiters do. Not every kid is going to go to college and joining the military is an option for some. We have ROTC and the kids that are in it, like it. The recruiters are probably getting the contact info for kids that they've already talked to on campus, who have shown an interest in the military. I highly doubt they are cold-calling the entire school directory. It's obvious that the recruiting methods haven't been working all that great anyway, when the Army is making video games to try and recruit now. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about your kids until someone decides to bring the draft back.

Originally posted by Evil Genius
I really don't see what the fuss is about. I teach at a high school and we have military recruiters come on campus every year. Just like the college recruiters do. Not every kid is going to go to college and joining the military is an option for some. We have ROTC and the kids that are in it, like it. The recruiters are probably getting the contact info for kids that they've already talked to on campus, who have shown an interest in the military. I highly doubt they are cold-calling the entire school directory. It's obvious that the recruiting methods haven't been working all that great anyway, when the Army is making video games to try and recruit now. Ultimately, I wouldn't worry about your kids until someone decides to bring the draft back.

The problem with this law is that it does not state the age limitations that a recruiter can request information on the children for.

It would be one thing if it stated between age 16-18, and that's it.

It's one thing altogether however when there are no restrictions, and we have the Iraq War going, the impending Iran War, plus we're mixed up with assisting Georgia against Russia, our former Cold War nemesis, plus the War on Terror.

This is a very good way to get the undereducated class of kids we've been creating since the 80's. They will be little capable of anything other than military recruitment.

No wonder it's there...Can't keep filling up prisons...But there is always a war to be fought.

Originally posted by projectvxn
This is a very good way to get the undereducated class of kids we've been creating since the 80's. They will be little capable of anything other than military recruitment.

No wonder it's there...Can't keep filling up prisons...But there is always a war to be fought.

This statement is a classic example of people assuming that the only people who join the military are uneducated schlubs who can't get into college and are too slow to make it in the commercial world.

The military has it's standards, you know. They don't take just anybody. And who do you think are running a submarine's nuclear reactor? Gang bangers from East LA? Or operating are repairing F-22 combat avionics? Hick farmers from East Muleshoe, IA? Or how about the maintaining the gas turbine engines in an M1-A1? Drop-outs and delinquents?

While there are lots of roles for all kinds of people, including undereducated and economically-challenged people, the military is a vast organization comprised of millions of people of varying skills and education. And for the vast majority of us veterans, we leave the service better off then when we entered.

And in my opinion, if you are too afraid of your 17 or 18 year old child to talk to a professional military recruiter because they may do something stupid or be coerced or be deceived, then you haven't done a good enough job raising your child. Recruiters have been calling and mailing students since before I was in HS (early 1980's) and it is nothing new. The only thing that is new is that all the Moonbats are crying about their poor defenseless little kiddies and how the big, evil military recruiters are trying to Shanghai the little innocents, to the point where some towns and cities have created an environment that is hostile to recruiters, or even trying to outlaw the activity. Well, thats fine. Just be prepared to not get your share of the federal money if you don't want to be part of the system. Sheesh.

Originally posted by projectvxn
This is a very good way to get the undereducated class of kids we've been creating since the 80's. They will be little capable of anything other than military recruitment.

No wonder it's there...Can't keep filling up prisons...But there is always a war to be fought.

You and everyone who thinks like you make me sick. It's that"uneducated class" that's are protecting your self righteous butt.

When i was in high school (graduated 2001), we had to take the ASVAB test. anyone who did relatively well on the test the recruiters went after rather aggressively. i can remember marine recruiters calling me constantly trying to set up an appointment to come to my house to tell me all about how awesome it would be to be a marine.

fast forward 7 years, and im a college graduate that still joined the army... go figure...

the point being that this was before the no child left behind act, so the recruiters are doing the same thing now that they have before, only now there's legislation that says that they can do it.

It is an interesting point that recruiters will not waste their time by talking to 3rd graders. However, because there is no age limit, what's stopping savvy recruiters from casually talking to middle school students? I would think that by talking to them when they are young and more susceptible to persuasion (and not mature enough to make wise, reasonable decisions), recruiters would be giving them a future positive subconscious bias towards joining.

A comparison might be how most parents are strongly against tobacco advertising towards youth. By convincing the younger generation that smoking is "cool," you are subconsciously persuading a generation to smoke. I would imagine that if a recruiter came and talked to me a few times when I was in middle school as a "friend" and told me how exciting and patriotic it was, I'd be much more likely to be in the military now.

I just don't think they should even be allowed to target younger children, despite whether they actually do or not.