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Should military recruiters be allowed in high schools? Public schools that accept federal funds are required by law to give access to military recruiters.


YES

The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area.  has had an all-volunteer military since the draft was abolished in 1973. That means the military depends entirely on recruiters to attract an educated, highly sophisticated, and well-trained force to defend our nation and win our wars.

Visits to high schools and access to school-directory information are critical to our recruiters' efforts--particularly because our standards require new soldiers to have a high school diploma A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED.  or better.

The presence of military recruiters in high schools does not force students to join the military; it simply alerts them to an option.

We want to make sure every high school student is aware of the career and training opportunities the military has to offer--everything from being in the infantry to learning how to work high-tech equipment or be a medical technician.

Using student lists, the local recruiter can contact students, discuss their goals, and encourage them to stay in school and graduate. Recruiters can then follow up with those students interested in pursuing the military as a career option.

Recruiters also visit schools to inform educators about the services the military has to offer to all students, even those not interested in the military. We have free programs to improve test-taking skills and to help students find careers that suit their talents.

Our recruiters need the same access to students as employers and colleges, so that both students and educators are informed that military service is a viable career option.

S. Douglas Smith Men called Douglas Smith include:
  • Douglas Smith (broadcaster) ????-1972, British radio broadcaster
  • Douglas Smith (actor), born 1985, Canadian-American actor
  • Douglas C.
, Spokesman

U.S. Army Recruiting Command

NO

Right now, recruiters desperate for warm bodies to be shipped to Iraq are prowling prowl  
v. prowled, prowl·ing, prowls

v.tr.
To roam through stealthily, as in search of prey or plunder: prowled the alleys of the city after dark.

v.intr.
 selected high schools and neighborhoods across the country with sales pitches that touch on everything but the possibility of being maimed maim  
tr.v. maimed, maim·ing, maims
1. To disable or disfigure, usually by depriving of the use of a limb or other part of the body. See Synonyms at batter1.

2.
 or killed in combat.

The teenagers who are the prime targets for recruitment are being told just about anything to ward off whatever misgivings they may have. Need money for college? No problem. You want to go to a nice place? Certainly. Maybe even Hawaii.

A young man who recently registered, as required, with the Selective Service System received an upbeat brochure in the mail touting the military's 30 days of annual "paid vacation Noun 1. paid vacation - a vacation from work by an employee with pay granted
holiday, vacation - leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure; "we get two weeks of vacation every summer"; "we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico"
," its free medical and dental care, its "competitive retirement" benefits, and its "home-loan program."

There was no mention of combat, or what it's like to walk the corridors and the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Walter Reed Army Medical Center, major hospital complex in Washington, D. C., and Forest Glen, Md.; est. 1923 and named for U.S. army surgeon Walter Reed. It is composed of seven units including a general hospital and a research institute. There are several thousand beds.  in Washington, where you'll see a tragic, unending parade of young men and women struggling to move about despite their paralysis, or with one, two, or three limbs missing.

Because the stakes are so high we should be straight with potential recruits. The fundamental task of the military is to fight and kill the enemies of the United States, and fighting and killing is a grotesquely brutal experience.

Military recruiters do not belong in the halls of our public schools, where they are preying on youngsters who are especially vulnerable and impressionable.

Bob Herbert Bob Herbert (born March 7, 1945 in Brooklyn, NY), is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. His column is syndicated to other newspapers around the country. He is distinguished by his frequent columns on poverty and criticism of the war in Iraq.  

New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 Times columnist
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kaitlyn
kaitlyn jones (Member): Military allowed in schools 3/5/2008 8:43 PM
I do not agree with the military being allowed in schools to recruit teenagers. It has been happening at my son's school since my son was 15. Recruiters have been allowed to meet with my son as often as they want to without my permission or even contacting me. <br><br>I would not have any problems with this as long as from the initial contact the recruiter would contact the parents to invite them in to learn more about what they are offering our children. <br><br>I truly think that the recruiters neglect to tell the whole story, but instead make it sound like it's a lot of fun. Just recently a recruiter told my son that he did not need to get a high school dimploma to join that a GED would suffice. That was very upsetting to me considering I have been stressing the importance of school to my son. <br><br>I am just as upset with the school for allowing this to happen, my son got behind on his studies from visting with the recruiter so often. The school did not tell me that this was happening or allowed.<br>

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Article Details
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Title Annotation:DEBATE
Author:Herbert, Bob
Publication:New York Times Upfront
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Mar 13, 2006
Words:496
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