COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Student Privacy
Schools order military retreat
Jason Wermers, News-Press
July 31, 2007
When school opens Aug. 20, military recruiters will be relegated tohigh school career centers and then they can only show up by appointment.
The new school district policy is a marked change from last year when
some high schools allowed military recruiters wide latitude in
reaching out to students.
At some schools, recruiters were allowed to set up tables in the
cafeteria during lunch. Others limited access to the school's career center.
"Every school was doing things differently, " said Herbert Wiseman,
Lee County School District's director of middle and high school
operations. "The superintendent thought we needed to get everybody on
the same sheet of music and develop a process document that everyone
could follow."
Recruiters for colleges and universities, employers and groups
opposed to military recruiting such as the Wage Peace Project
already are following this policy.
Anti-military recruiting groups will not be granted appointments in
schools the same day as military recruiters.
The federal No Child Left Behind Act, a sweeping education law passed
in 2001, includes a requirement that military recruiters be granted
access to students' phone numbers and addresses. But parents also
must be given an opportunity to choose not to make this information available.
At the beginning of the school year, Lee County sends parents a copy
of the student code of conduct. With it is a sheet requiring their
signature to acknowledge that they received the document and that
they grant or deny permission for their children's information to be
made public to the military, higher education and employer recruiters.
Nancy Howell, co-chairwoman of the Wage Peace Project, hailed the new
policy as much-needed protection for young, impressionable students
against persuasive military recruiters.
"We were surprised to find out that the principals got together last
week and had a discussion about this issue," said Howell, of North
Fort Myers. "We feel our discussions with the district have been
fairly positive."
Last year, Howell's group focused its efforts on the high schools
with the least restrictions on military recruiters Cypress Lake,
Dunbar, Estero, Fort Myers and Lehigh Senior at least twice a month.
Janet Santiago, who has two daughters attending Cape Coral High this
year, said she feels the new policy is fair.
"It's not something I have experienced personally because none of my
children have ever been interested in the military," she said. "It
probably is a good idea that it's regulated by one office instead of
leaving it up to individual schools."
Lehigh Senior High graduate Troy Barnes, 18, said he doesn't plan to
enter the military but does support the armed forces, especially
because he has a brother who is in the Air Force.
"The appointments would be for those who already have plans to join
the military," said Barnes, who was in Junior ROTC at Lehigh for the
past four years before graduating in May. "The recruiters might miss
the kid who wasn't thinking about the military but then is inspired to join."
Barnes, who will attend Florida Gulf Coast University next month,
said he found that the recruiters weren't overly aggressive at Lehigh Senior.
"They were just telling people what the military was," Barnes said.
"They were giving them a backup plan in case their original plan
didn't work out."
Recruiters did set up display tables in the cafeteria. Some would
come to classrooms, too, he said.
Antoine is taking the change in stride.
"Honestly, it's not going to have that great of an effect," said Army
Staff Sgt. Patrick Antoine, a Fort Myers-area recruiter. "We still
have ways of coming across to our fan base."
Those include setting up shop at community events, concerts and
sporting events.
"We have our rock wall, our Humvee displays," Antoine said.
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RECRUITER ACCESS
The Lee County School District recently developed a policy regarding
recruiter access have to high school students. It consists of the
following nine steps:
1. Lee County public high schools will provide access to secondary
school students, including the names, addresses and phone numbers,
when requested by military recruiters.
2. Secondary school students or parents may request that the
student's name, address and phone number not be released to
recruiters by indicating this on the Code of Conduct form, which they
must sign and return to the office.
3. Lee County public high schools will provide the same access to
military recruiters as is given to recruiters from post-secondary
institutions and prospective employers.
4. Organizations opposing certain military operations will be
afforded the same opportunity as recruiters to meet with students.
However, these organizations will be assigned different days from
military recruiters to meet with students.
5. Members of military or educational institutions and organizations
should contact the principal of the school to schedule a specific day
of the week to meet with students in the career center of the school.
6. Students will be notified regarding opportunities to meet with
these visitors during their lunch breaks on a voluntary basis.
7. Interested students will sign up in the school's career center.
8. Career center staff will schedule the appointments. It will be the
responsibility of the visiting organization to check with the
school's career center staff regarding pending appointments.
9. Military and educational institutions and other organizations may
provide brochures that will be available to students in the career center.
Source: Lee County School District
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