Counter-Recruit at your High School

[liveoaktx]

Military recruiters have access, you can too. With the Pentagon taking minor's names and giving them to a private marketing firm, and assuming that the list comes from the NCLB provision, it's more important than ever to get to the kids and have them take their name off the list before it gets sent to the marketer.

[MissMillie]

1. the problem is thus

Each school has to give a list of graduating seniors to military computers or lose all funding under NCLB.

How do you propose to counter this? (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for stopping the recruiting, but the schools have already lost a lot of funding in recent years.... how can we ask them to risk losing more?)

[uppityperson]

2. You can opt out of having your name released.

http://www.teenpeace.org/ is a website that gives info on it and other teen peace activities.

[liveoaktx]

4. No, the NCLB says that parents or students can OPT OUT

http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg112.html#sec9528

[mopinko]

3. people are working on this chicago

the andersonville neighbors for peace have been working to prevent the local high school (nicholas senn high) from going military. i know they have also staged some anti-recruiting rallies, and done some draft counseling. i think they have worked with the quakers.

[orleans]

6. People need to be aware that their schools are supposed to

notify them of the nclb and that they do have an opt-out option. i'm in the western suburbs and my child's high school has been handing out lists to recruiters without notifying parents about a thing.

i learned of this nclb "clause" back in march (on the internet!) and notified the district office that parents we not being informed. (it was an oversight--fell through the cracks of a changing administration.) so now the school has sent a paper home for next year notifying parents of the opt-out option.

i don't quite get this new law passed--the idea of a "supression" list is rather creepy sounding.

[Proud_Lefty]

5. Opt Out Program

See www.leavemychildalone.com

[noamnety]

7. You can go to a school board meeting

And make an announcement, to let those in attendance know about it. You can request that the school includes opt-out instructions in their newsletter home, and that they include information on their website.

You can also call your local school's principal and request to set up an opt out table at a parent-teacher conference. A lot of students and parents don't know about the rules, and the optout websites are only useful IF they know. If you can get permission to set up a table at your local high school with a sign that says Opt Out of Recruiting Here, and the forms can get filled out on the spot and handed in to administration. The school may find it easier to accept if you frame it not as a counter-recruiting action, but rather as a notification of the opt-out procedures.

[berni_mccoy]

8. There already is a movement

Check out: http://www.militaryfreezone.org/opt_out

The DU Activism Corps should announce full support of this and we should do what they ask everyone to do.

With 1000 activists, we certainly could have a big impact in spreading the word.

[seg4527]

9. counterrecruitment is going full force in minneapolis

kennedy high school is having great success.

the anti-war group i'm in on campus is taking up this movement next year is getting in on this, and it's very exciting. this is our best bet in stopping the war. taking it right to the people who are thinking about fighting.