The Observation Deck

I am writing with concern over recent activities at Lakewood High School. I have a son at LHS and am the proud parent of two graduates. The quality of the education in the classroom remains excellent and I am a huge supporter of our public schools.
My concern is regarding the recruitment opportunities given to the armed forces at LHS. The Army Band came to LHS on Sept. 3rd and the Army Paratroopers came on Sept. 7th. My son was opted out of recruitment, through a form provided by the school, yet using all school assemblies he was subjected to exactly that. I have no problem with the recruiters coming on campus offering to meet with students during their free periods. This would offer access without recruitment of disinterested students. These assemblies wasted precious classroom time. The information presented by the band was that joining the service was a way to have a "great vacation paid for by the army", and at the event in the stadium, the message was that it is akin to "playing video games". The students were offered free IPods for giving their personal information to the recruiters. I believe that the military is an integral part of our country, I have family members who are career Navy, but the message needs to be one of patriotism, and defense and presented to students who seek this information.

Today, President Obama is speaking to students nationwide. Parents received robo-calls with the option to opt-out of listening to the president's speech. How can the school system offer an opt-out of the speech but require students to attend recruitment rallies? Last year the response to the speech question was answered by the need to provide lunch periods as mandated by the state. If this is truly the issue, perhaps only students who have lunch at 1:00 should be given the opt-out option. What message are we sending our students when we do not offer the respect due to the Office of the President of the United States? President Obama, as Commander in Chief, should certainly be given as much access to our students as a band or paratroopers.
It is my hope that the Lakewood Schools review their policy regarding who has access to our
students with regard to respect and fairness for all concerned.

Diane Brinich wrote:I
My concern is regarding the recruitment opportunities given to the armed forces at LHS. The Army Band came to LHS on Sept. 3rd and the Army Paratroopers came on Sept. 7th. .

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Bill, You need to read my message more carefully. Do you think our students should be recruited by being told that it is a vacation or like playing video games?

Diane,

You and I are in total agreement.

Steve

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I have not been privy to the assemblies so I will not pretend to understand the context. I will offer my two cents.

Are college recruiters (sports or otherwise) afforded the same access to students?

Video games and vacation might be right if you are a highly trained UAV pilot but perhaps students should be told about the all the bad stuff... PTSD, War, IED's.

Was the talk of vacations in reference to having a chance to see much of the world instead of being stuck in Lakewood for the rest of their lives, or in reference to the 30 days of vacation a year; that is more than almost any type of work except being a teacher?

Much of what any soldier does in fact is very like a video game; there is more technology in the military than some of us realize, which is why today's videogamers pick up military skills very quickly.

So is your gripe that your kids received some information, or are you saying that the information was not accurate?

Diane----I applaud your attention to the information that is purveyed to your children who also hold the status of students within the public school system.
That has to be the most responsible vigilance possible for a parent.

Now, as to the "pitch" from the recruiters--- I think today's kids are a bit savvy and would view with skepticism a fantasy based scenario as contrasted to the deadly and very important responsibilities of our military.

Stan

I too think the kids are savvy. The message of vacations and video games only made the assemblies seem ridiculous to some students. This did not encourage the trust needed for making this kind of major life choice.

Good for Diane, sounds like she attended the assembly with her son and is letting us all know what she heard first hand.

Seems like a logical argument to me. How dare "the government" impose themselves into our schools...oh wait....

Understanding:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/waging-war/a-new-generation/the-army-experience-center.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINqibpWOzQ&feature=related

Jim DeVito wrote:Are college recruiters (sports or otherwise) afforded the same access to students?

In the four years I was at LHS, there never was a college recruiter that had that kind of access to the entire school body at assemblies. Usually students had to take time out of their classes to go and visit a college representative during selected times of the day. The only sports things we had were pep rallies, which we were forced to go to and were another waste of time.

If they are going to give the armed forces a chance to talk to everyone, even people with no intention of joining the service, then college recruiters should get the same chance. I don't see how higher education is less important than the military.

I spoke to my son he said basically the same thing. He said they told the kids "if you like video games you could train to be a pilot." He also commented that he truly doubted being in the military was like that and he wondered if anyone was really stupid enough to fall for that.

I should add I have great respect for the military and have no problem with them recruiting on campus I just wonder if the words chosen or methods used are the most appropriate.

I'm annoyed that appropriate assemblies (sharing aspects of being in the military) have turned into recruitment events. My daughter feels one event turned into a time filler...it was too windy for the paratroopers so they improvised and went into recruitment, but the other event was clearly recruitment. I'm already annoyed that I have to opt out of sharing my children's personal information only for military recruitment. Otherwise the school system is not allowed to share personal information without permission.

Why one group has exclusive rights to our children without our permission is beyond me.

Diane Brinich wrote:Bill, You need to read my message more carefully. Do you think our students should be recruited by being told that it is a vacation or like playing video games?

I stand corrected. I appologize for my comment.

I inferred that you supported treating military recruiters differently than other recruiters. Military recruiters should have equal access and not better access to students.

I am usually emotionally detached from my posts and the agruments on the deck. As a volunteer and veteran of three years service in the army I find that issues like this issue are the exception. Let that be a lesson to me.

Again, I appologize.

Kate McCarthy wrote:Why one group has exclusive rights to our children without our permission is beyond me.

I have been saying this for years.

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