Okay, you all know my point of view on this high school recruiting topic. I am preparing my essay for final draft tomorrow. A classmate of mine who is also a recruiter is writing his argumentative paper on high school recruiting as well. He posted his thesis statement in the discussion thread, as we were all instructed to do. We were told to peer evaluate the thesis to determine if it did its job and provided a precise stance for the paper. One of our "peers" decided that, rather than evaluate she would give her opinion on the topic...NOT THE ASSIGNMENT...her response left me a bit irritated. Here it is for your viewing pleasure...

"I'm one of those parents that disagrees with Recruiters at high schools. It's nothing personal against the recruiter but the plain logic of considering the wishes of us as parents. I want those in authority to stand on the rights of us parents at the school but it's not that I'm ignorant of the information the recruiter is bringing into a place where I pay taxes and have given strict guidelines on what I choose for my children. A recruiter entering a high school and meeting with my child without my permission as the guardian and parent responsible for that child, is going to be met with resistance and an attorney if need be. 

 Our children are our most precious asset and while I commend you for your bravery on choosing your enlistment I ask you to respect my wishes to contact me as a parent before you try to enter the high school to talk alone with my child, after all they are minors. I understand your desire to keep up the pep talks about our country and the plan for education in the service but when I check into the school to see my child I don't want grown men in fatigues near my child whispering about information that if it were in public outside the school doors probably would never enter. 
 The school has a responsibility to the child first and the parent second to remove a perimeter outside for recruiters to do their thing."

Now, clearly the idea that an attorney would be of some assistance to her cause in a PUBLIC school is absurd. My advice back to here was 1) Put your children in private school 2) exercise your opt-out option for call lists. Most of know that law requires schools to let recruiters in at least once a year if they want to collect federal dollars. The ignorance contained in the above quote leads me to wonder exactly how many people genuinely disagree with military recruiters being granted the right to the same access as other employers...My response to this "peer" was this...

"Your PUBLIC schools have no choice in the matter. Law requires them to let recruiters in if they want federal money. Two options that exist under law are 1) you can opt out of call lists 2) go to private school. Recruiter will be in high schools just as all other employers and college recruiters are. The school can refuse access, but they must give up federal assistance under  law. 

Kids learn all kinds of things you wouldn't like within the walls of high school. Believe me, I've spent the last 10 years working in high schools AS A RECRUITER. The choices they ultimately make in life are those grounded in their upbringing. I can tell you without question that not all parents know their children, not all parents know anything about their children's goals, not all parents have the means to provide any future for their children. Those few that enlist while in high school, which only account for 20% of total enlistments, do so only if their parents provide written consent and the student is on track to graduate. Parents are always involved in the decision making process. Blocking options for children less fortunate than your own is very "progressive", but fails to look out for the future of ALL or nation's children."
 

I respect her opinion, but for the fact her assignment was not to demean her fellow student. All she was supposed to do is critique the value of his thesis statement. 

Let's take this post as an opportunity to comment with BOTH SIDES of the issue. Last time 300 of you left opinions on the Army FB page, but only 13 left comments here. I'm interested in seeing REASONS you're for against having recruiters in high schools. Try to cite specific examples of the good, as ell as, the bad. I'm curious to know what the ration looks like.

Let's have a grown up discussion and respect each other's opinions! 

until next time,

Terry