COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Student Privacy
More students say 'No' to the military
PAIGE PARKER , Oregonian
November 14, 2006
Military recruiters wooing Grant High School students will find fewGenerals willing to join their ranks -- 73 percent of this year's
juniors and seniors refused to provide their names, phone numbers and
addresses to the military.
Districtwide, 61 percent of Portland Public Schools' juniors and
seniors told schools to withhold their personal information, according
to a district count. Under the No Child Left Behind law, public
schools must give such information to recruiters, unless students or
their parents ask otherwise.
Portland's opt-out rate has climbed steadily throughout the war in
Iraq. In 2004, just 24 percent of students declined to give their
information, said Sarah Carlin Ames, a Portland Public sp okeswoman.
Districts have been required to pass on student information since 2002.
Opt-out rates vary for other large Oregon school districts: Just 22
percent of Beaverton juniors and seniors declined to give their
information; in Eugene, 68 percent of students said no.
Grant posted the highest opt-out rate of any of Portland's 10
comprehensive high schools. Students attending Portland high schools
with the lowest poverty rates -- Grant, Lincoln and Wilson -- tend to
be the least willing to turn over their information to the military,
with students attending schools with the highest poverty rates --
Roosevelt and Jefferson -- the most open.
Workers and volunteers with the Military and Draft Counseling Project
and Recruiter Watch PDX visited Benson, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison
and Roosevelt high schools in September and distributed pamphlets that
encouraged students to withhold information. The pamphlets included a
form that they coul d turn into their school. At Jefferson, the
anti-war groups rented a vehicle and played rap music to attract
students, said John Grueschow, coordinator of the Portland chapter of
the War Resistors League.
"At places like Jefferson and Roosevelt, we sense a certain amount of
cynicism among the kids," Grueschow said. "They kind of understand
they probably need to question (recruiters' claims), but they also
understand there aren't a lot of options out there for them. I would
say 80 percent or maybe even higher of the kids I talk to say that the
main reason they're thinking about signing up for the military is to
get money for college."
Last year, Jefferson parent Jackie Wallace refused to give her
senior's information to the military, and says she'll do the same next
year with two children who are now sophomores.
"On Memorial Day we hang our flag, we do the whole Veterans Day thing,
but we certainly don't want our kids involved in it. I don't want
those recruiters having any information about my kids, nor do I want
my children off fighting in this war," Wallace said. "Overall, it is
for my children, but I suppose you could look at it as a form of
protest."
In 1995, the district banned recruiters on the grounds that the
military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy discriminates. The ban held
until the No Child Left Behind law said districts could lose federal
funding if they denied recruiters access. Some parents remain
sensitive to military presence; recently, several parents at Southeast
Portland's Winterhaven K-8 refused to let their children attend the
Department of Defense-financed Starbase program. They called the
weeklong space and aviation program, held at the Oregon National
Guard's Jackson Armory and Portland Air Base, an inappropriate attempt
to recruit elementary-age students.
Maureen Meisner, education services specialist for the U.S. Army
Recruiting Batt alion, said recruiters report making few inroads in
Portland public schools.
"It's hard working with them," Meisner said. "The whole state varies
in how we're received. We just kind of do what we can."
Even if their names are not provided by the school, recruiters may
still track down students, said Gary Stauffer, public affairs officer
for the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion.
"They could call them on the telephone, they could see them at
community events, they could see them at the mall," Stauffer said.
"Our recruiters go to lots of different events where kids attend."
To opt out, students must check a box on their registration form
indicating they don't want their information sent to recruiters.
Students who check a second box can also have their information
withheld from colleges, Ames said. The district sends home information
explaining that student information may be given to recruiters. The
handbook also explains a handful of ot her federal requirements.
This archive consists of a topically organized selection of
articles culled by members of the Counter-Recruitment List Serve from printed
publications and web sites. The archive is not complete. We have chosen
material relevant to the work of