Wow! Parental disapproval must be putting a dent in military recruitment

[Rose Siding]

I just saw an ad for the Army (I think). A young hispanic man, in a modest home, amidst edgy camera angles, was reassuring and explaining something to his worried mother.

He said something like "It was you. You taught me to want to do something important; to go to college. I learned it from you"

She gets weepy and proud.

Looks like the services are appealing to kids who know their parents will freak out.

[LifeDuringWartime]

1. i saw that too

absolutely disgusting.

[XanaDUer]

2. !

:puke:

They will stop at nothing.

[Debbie13]

3. It's so stupid. Parents should be proud that their kids are

going to die for Bush's stupid oil war and for Haliburton. (Haliburton should be the flag.)

[candy]

4. Not many kids in their late teens give a damn what their parents

say,or want,so what's the point of these ads?

By 18 I would assume any young man or woman would be able to think for themselves and make their own decisions.

[Wilms]

8. Of course they're old enough to make they're own decisions...

And you're never too old to make a really bad one...or to have little choice but to make a bad one.

Forget welfare queens. We got single moms in Iraq doing some of the most dangerous work...transport in unarmored vehicles.

They ought to do video of Reservists saying good-bye to their kid's. "Don't worry, son..."

Draft the Inebriated Twins! :grr:

[Ladyhawk]

20. My brother's gf's son enlisted early at age 17.

I was so pissed at her for letting him. If it was my kid, he wouldn't make such a horrible decision until age 18. Yeah, the kid is old enough to make his own decisions, but if I were his parent, I think I'd interfere with this particular decision. :(

At first, I wasn't sure about my brother's gf because she was stupid enough to move in with a middle-aged Ayn Rand and Rush Limbaugh lover who thinks it's funny to abuse prisoners on Death Row. (He used to be a correctional officer at San Quentin and would walk by their cells singing, "Plop-plop, fizz-fizz, oh what a relief it is..." This was a reference to the gas chamber. He often said he couldn't wait to drag them kicking and screaming toward their fate. Nice.

Somehow I don't think my brother would have the balls to be a real police officer. He just likes to torture people in cages...animals, too.

Odd that I wouldn't respect someone for wanting to date my brother. :(

I lost all respect when she let her rebellious kid pre-register for the army. Good call. Not.

I have to talk to my 14-year-old nephew about shrub and the war. My brother will get pissed off, but at this point, I don't give a rat's ass. My nephew needs to get another opinion other than the one he's been exposed to. Two of my brother's gf's kids are planning to go into the military. Bad influence, IMHO.

My nephew is better than the military. He's better than cannon fodder for the weed's stupid war.

How can I best explain all this to him? :( He won't really be receptive, but he'll be quiet about it. How can I help him think it through for himself?

[Pepperbelly]

26. Was your brother in the military? nt

[Ladyhawk]

29. No, he wasn't.

He tells "jokes" about abusing prisoners and killing animals and they just aren't funny to me. Why am I saying this? Probably because I don't know how to tell my brother that I don't want to see him again because his morals disgust me. :( I don't want a fight. It's useless.

BUT...I love my nephew and I want him to see another way before he gets too old.

[RadicalMom]

10. Most of the kids like to give the appearance that they don't...

care, but in reality, they do. This is an additional push on those who are listening to the recruiters who are dogging their every step.

[illflem]

14. That exactly what the military wants

people who don't think for themselves and who are highly impressionable. That's why they prefer younger recruits, the old one gets the more fixed in their ways they become.

[Pepperbelly]

23. huh?

Family always cares and functional people rarely WANT to arbitraily piss off their biggest support structure and source of identity.

[Syncronaut Seven]

31. Not in Catholic Hispanic families

Disrespecting Moms wishes is a big nono. You must be thinking of someone else.

[NVMojo]

5. that's fucking sick ...

the Bush cabal is desperate ...

[tabasco]

6. Not to worry ...

All the freepers and college republicans are courageous in their steadfast support of the war. Young conservatives are flocking to volunteer for combat duty just like George W. Bush did in another war.

[katinmn]

13. I've noticed that, too. ;-)

[peacebird]

17. i still remember the young repugs in NYC

when asked about the war they waxed poetic,
when asked if they were signing up - they said "Oh no - it's more important for me to be politically active and fight the battles here at home."

so much for "Onward christian soldiers, marching into war"

[ChairOne]

7. Why do parents hate America? ;)

[Ilsa]

9. That one has been around for at least six months.

It's a shame that they are dogging on Hispanics so hard for enlistment. Plays on their desire to get ahead if they can't afford college, which is more likely to be true if it is first or second generation US-born Hispanic teens.

BTW, this is only my opinion. I have no stats to back me up, just observations around the neighborhood.

But our NG unit has a solicitation sign out front of their building. I need to get a pic of it.

[katinmn]

12. I wonder if cutting Pell Grant funds

are a deliberate attempt to make it harder for more Americans to attend college.

As the money continues to dry up and tuition goes through the roof, the only option for some is the military.

Bastards!

[Ilsa]

16. I think it is deliberate.

I think I heard that a couple of hundred thousand would have their grants cut, and another 75-90 thousand would lose theirs completely, but I may have my figures confused. If a hundred thousand have their grants cut and they still cant't afford college, they will likely become "fair and ripe pickens" for the draft board.

My high school class was about two-three years out of being a part of the active draft. One of my Hispanic friends went to college on grants and scholarships (music ed major). Fortunately for him, he got all kinds of govt. assistance that madeit possible for him to have a life about 100 times nicer than his parents. His father was an immigrant from Mexico and did farming/ranching work for some of the big ranches in our area. His mother took care of the family and probably did some odd jobs. Fortunately for his son who is about to graduate, they have enough money to send him to college without using the Pell grants if they are not available.

Right now, I'm more worried about our niece and her husband. They are 20 and 21. He is finished with college and working at a refinery, she still has at least three years to go if she goes to grad school. They are poor as church mice. But I am more concerned that their plans will end up on hold if there is a draft.

[katinmn]

19. I'm very fearful of a draft, too, so I understand your concern

I believe the right has plans to build a long-term presence in the Middle East. Now they have a toe-hold and they don't care how many of us have-nots they have to use up to conquer the region.

[Ladyhawk]

21. I think you're right. And it's sick, sick, sick!

Shame on the weed! :(

[lovuian]

11. The Kids are rebeliious and want to see the world

the Army promises that too them. Their Poor but their mothers know the reality. I feel for them what a situation!!!

[eleny]

15. And then there's the new Military Channel coming soon

From the previews it looks like it's going to be an army comic book come to life.

[peacebird]

18. the Discovery channel's old "wings" program

will now be the military propaganda network.

btw - I am learning Spanish and it is odd but one site on the web for free language classes (about.com) is running nonstop military recruitment ads on the free "learn Spanish" site.

guess the military hasn't figured out yet that they should be targetting about.com's ENGLISH lesson page, not the Spanish one!

[phantomvotes]

28. Out of ALL THE ADDS

New Years, on cable there sure were alot of military advertisements.
Now all of the sudden there is their own military channel on cable and satelite tv ( New Years day!). Go figure!!!!????

[LeftCoast]

22. Saw that ad a few weeks ago

I thought it was pretty fucked up. The read-between-the-lines message: Your Mom doesn't want you to join the military, but she really wants you to join the military. I suppose if the kids bought that, they'd be perfect for the military brainwashing they'll receive at bootcamp.

[jbnow]

24. I have a friend

whose son just graduated from boot camp. He is home for Christmas and going on to sopecial training.

She did not want him to join. She is proud of him because he is so focused and determined after being such a screw up through high school but she cries sometimes and doesn't know why. She asks if I did that when my son left for college. She asked her doctor for higher dose of Zoloft, which she started on as he entered boot camp.

When I suggest it is surely harder to see your 18 year old join the army in war time then head off to college or anything along that lone she firmly tells me he will not be in a war zone, the recruiter told them that. He will not be in danger.

Before he enlisted I was more open-STOP HIM if you can, recruiters lie and don't make the choice in any case! But now...I don't know what to say. It is so hard to talk to her, to see him so fresh faced and happy.

There is not enoiugh Zoloft in the world to help a mother here.

[Eagle_Eye]

25. Ford has a commercial to sell cars to the boys lucky enough to

'Come Home' from the war.
http://www.nbc.com/nbc/American_Dreams/ford.shtml
I guess they can't make any money off of the ones that come back in a body bag.

[theycanbiteme]

27. Won't make any difference

Seriously, the draft will occur and people will be powerless to stop it.

[anti_shrub]

30. More parents would disapprove

If they knew how much the recruiters lie.

My best friend joined the Army because he went to a $20k a year college and had no real job offers after graduation. The army recruiter told him they'd pay off his school loans on top of the usual sign up bonus you get for joining. Plus he said my friend could get a computer related job after he said he was interested in networking.

Well it's been 2+ years now since he joined and he hasn't got a god damned thing. No money to pay off school loans, no sign up bonus, and the networking job turned out to be with the telephone network.

What's sad is my friend really likes Army life, but he's so pissed off with the lies he can't wait to get out. He didn't even have the money to come home for the holidays to see his family since he hasn't recieved the money he was promised.

That really burns me how they can throw his ass in the brig if he doesn't honor every word, but they can decide to not honor a thing and he can't do anything about it.