What Would You Do if Your Child Said They Wanted To Join the Armed Forces?

Just a little poll I would like to run here. First let me say, I have NOTHING, but the utmost respect for ALL who have ever, or are currently serving our country. Thank you so much for all you gave!!! That being said, sometime in the past 20 or so years, it seems many, myself included, have been forced to stop being proud of country, and have become ashamed of our government instead. The atrocities our government has carried out, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, not to mention possibly even attacking its own citizens, in an attempt to fight more wars. So this is where my question comes in.
Your early teenage child comes to you and says they want to join the military when they come of age. I am curious what ATSers think their response would be. I mean, you should usually support your child in what they choose to do with their life. It is a VERY proud tradition in alot of families, and should be a very proud thing to do. I had always wished I had served my country when I was young. However, knowing the "machine" of war the government has waged against people it should not have, I am not sure it is such a proud decision for one to make anymore.
There you have it, what would you do, support them, or talk them out of it?

After what I've gone through, none of my children wanted to join.
But on the off chance one of them did want to join, I would have had a good long talk with her about the......the.......wait, what am I saying? They wouldn't have wanted to join.

For sake of the poll....my answer is.I would do my best to talk them out of it.

As a veteran myself, I would be in 100% support, but I'd support my child in whatever he wants to do

I suppose I would make SURE they realized what they were getting in to, have them talk to some vets who could give all sides of it from the positive to the negative, and then I would support them because it IS their life and their choices. If I were to hold them from doing what they wanted to try at, I'd be a pretty horrific person.

Beat the living daylights out of them for being an idiot wanting to waste the most valuable thing they have - their liife for a corrupt government and corporate greed ... then disown them...
luckily mine were smart enough not to make such an idiotic decision...
good luck to you on getting yours to change their minds ...

I would tell them (and anyone else) not to join any of the forces in any position. Gunner or pen pusher I don't care. The whole machine needs stopping imo.

Provide support, You can not run your child's life forever.

I remember when I told my mother I joined the army. First anger, then sadness, while I was away remorse and when I came home nothing but support.

I've been there already. When my son (now 27) graduated from high school, he told me that he was thinking about going into the service. I had no qualms about offering my support for his decision. Unfortunately, he was disqualified because he is prone to severe asthma attacks.

I don't have any problem with young men/women who choose to join the military. It exposes them to self discipline and self reliance. I don't agree at all with our current involvement in the Middle East, but I fully support anyone that chooses to experience a military environment.

reply to post by thesmokingman


i would support their descision to join the armed forces. the technical skills that can be learned is second to none.

i worked with persons who spent time in the military.
some electricians from the navy were sharp cookies. they really knew what they were doing. more than just running wire and progamming a PLC. they understood electricity well.

some electronics technicians from the air force and navy could build a radio from the breadboard up.

some army and marines i worked with could weld, work sheet metal and maintain autos, large equipment and excel as machinists. they make it look easy.

as much as i don't like the wars the united states is involved in, i have to give props to the skills these men and women learn during the time they are in the service.

-subfab

I think most people should be stripped of the title of a Parent if their kid wanted to join the Armed Forces. The duty of a Parent is to teach their kids right from wrong, when your kids chooses the wrong choice over the right one, you've failed your duty as a Parent, especially when it's a choice that child might never get to learn from, because it just might be their last bad choice.

On another note, there are a lot of people who go into service wanting to do the right thing and help others, but there is probably a larger number going into service for the benefits, and sadly I've only met the people wanting the benefits.

For the people who wanted to protect their country, they could have done that the proper way, by staying on the defense. They could have become Police officers and protected the people within their community, that's a service to your country. Getting shipped off and taking orders to kill a man you don't know because you're told to isn't protecting your country. That man in his sand hut never physically threatened your people, let alone even had the slightest chance to. Now if Camels could swim across oceans....

reply to post by thesmokingman


I would say HELL NO.

I have nothing against individual soldiers and in fact I think many of them joined for positive reasons, but this lifestyle the war machine is selling is nothing close to reality or truth. Young men and women want to be heroes. They want to save lives, defend their families and become knights in shining armor. This perception of military lifestyle is a fairy tale. By joining and fighting in these unjust wars they give more power to our corrupted Government. Do you think that our corrupt leaders would be able to wage illegal wars if they didn't have the manpower? If you and I refused to fight for them, they would have no army to terrorize the world with.

If my kid wanted to be a hero, there are a million other ways to help humanity and/or this country. Saving lives as doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, volunteers during disasters and so on,... that's the better path these days. Soldiers are heroes, but only when they are fighting for a just cause. They are punished for not following orders, even when those orders are to invade foreign lands based on lies, or killing innocent civilians. I would not want my kid to come home trying to kill him/herself because he/she was forced to shoot some family in a foreign land for no good reason. No, I would not let my kid join,... not until I felt that the war was justified, not until I felt it would save more lives, and not until it would help the world become a better place.

I would support him, but discourage her. too many stories of rapes for my taste

I work with a guy on a military pension, getting that check every month must be nice

Better to live one day as a roaring lion then a lifetime as a worm.

Encourage them, let them make the choice. Dont discourage them.

Why would any parent encourage their son to be a wimp and not join.
Many wimps in this thread

I would support their decision to join the armed forces.

I'd tell them they've been brainwashed.

Killing inocent people for the purpose of profit is WRONG.

I would show them the Winter Soldier tapes and have a good long talk about just why our government wants its hands in so many pies. I fear in my house it will be the gang in blue rather than the gang in green though. My son has wanted to be a policeman since he was a little boy. I am not so much trying to talk him out of it as I am trying to show him both sides of the picture. Hopefully thats enough.

Originally posted by sirnukeem
Better to live one day as a roaring lion then a lifetime as a worm.

Encourage them, let them make the choice. Dont discourage them.

Why would any parent encourage their son to be a wimp and not join.
Many wimps in this thread

This is not about being a wimp. This is about refusing to fight for a horrible cause. A life is worth more than a few thousand dollars more in some politician's pocket. I wouldn't sell my kid's life so some fat cat can lay around on his new yacht. Let's talk about an army of people defending this country and it's people against violent criminals and foreign invasions,... that's something I could support. Us going into other countries and blowing them to bits for resources we want to steal? No deal.

I would talk them out of it letting them know in no uncertain terms that the military has become nothing more than pawns for the empire any more. We are not fighting for what they say we are fighting for.

I would try to find out why. After that, I would talk to him about what its like.

The rest of the conversation would depend on the answers I get.

While I was in I would loved to have my son join, now I hope he doesn't.

Originally posted by sirnukeem
Better to live one day as a roaring lion then a lifetime as a worm.

Encourage them, let them make the choice. Dont discourage them.

Why would any parent encourage their son to be a wimp and not join.
Many wimps in this thread

made that mistake when I was young and stupid did 4 tours in a little place called vietnam with s.o.g .. saw more than you can even begin to imagine .. my children were war orphans they experienced it firsthand growing up .. it cost them alot ... I stand by what I said in my initial reply...