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Teens take on military recruiters
Wednesday 02 March @ 20:32:18
High school students win right to counter-recruitment table
by Farheen Hakeem
School was letting out on a cold but sunny afternoon last Wednesday at Kennedy High School in Bloomington, and lingering around the exit doors were dozens of teenagers laughing, shouting and throwing snowballs. It did not seem like a center of controversy, until a group of reporters marched into the school, followed by the curious students. They headed toward the cafeteria, where a group of students were fighting for their freedom of speech—a fight they won after receiving support from across the country.
The controversy began last fall when a group of Kennedy students, opposed to the Iraq war and the periodic appearance of military recruitment tables at their school, decided to challenge the recruiters. The teens organized a local chapter of the organization Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR), which provides young people with the other side of the story regarding the realities of war.
After a series of meetings, they decided to set up a table opposite the military recruiters in the cafeteria during school lunch on Dec. 8 of last year. The teenagers tabled next to the military representatives and, on that day alone, collected more than 100 signatures on a student petition to stop military recruitment at their school.
When they prepared for the recruiters’ next scheduled visit, however, they met some opposition from administrators. Students must apply for a cafeteria table and put up fliers, and while their last fliers were approved immediately, their next application for nearly identical fliers took two months, students said. Then, the day before they were to host a table, the students were told their organization would not be allowed to set up a table. Administrators were unable to forbid the students from holding a teach-in later that day, however.
“We were told that we would be suspended for three days if we tabled,” said one student. YAWR members soon heard that representatives of the American Legion, which donates heavily to the school, came to visit Bloomington Schools Superintendent Gary Prest and Kennedy High School Principal Ron Simmons, threatening to stop donations if the pro-peace group was allowed to recruit.
The American Legion is one of the largest veterans’ groups in the United States. The organization was created in 1919, in part to counter the peace activism of the First World War. The organization “preserves and enhances patriotism and education,” according to its website. They contribute to school athletic programs and Reserve Officer Training Corps, support gun education for youth, seek to prohibit any form of flag desecration and promote military recruitment in schools.
Seniors Brandon Madsen and Kent Genis sent out a press release and e-mail to peace groups nationwide, asking people to call Prest and Simmons.
“I got calls from all over the nation; from the ACLU to Fox network,” Prest said.
Simmons was so inundated with phone calls that he asked the pro-peace students to send another e-mail asking people to stop calling, one student said.
When lunch hour arrived last Wednesday, the students decided to set up their fliers and literature in the cafeteria, even if it meant their suspension.
“We all went through with it knowing that there were consequences,” Olivia said, adding that Simmons tried to forcibly take down the table.
“He was grabbing the poster from my hand and if I did not let go of it, it was going to rip,” she said. In addition, one student said, “there were a group of kids that were getting all up into our faces.”
After calling the YAWR members into his office for a meeting, Prest told the students that the American Legion had misunderstood the situation, believing that the school was endorsing the anti-war efforts.
The students were told that, in the future, they will be able to set up a counter-recruitment table, and were allowed to do so Thursday during parent-teacher conferences. The YAWR students held their teach-in after school Wednesday, hosting several pro-peace speakers.
In general, the school administration seems to be happy with the outcome. “We have raised students to be independent, critical thinkers, and responsible adults … I applaud these students,” Prest states. In addition, district public relations officer Christine Dufor said, the American Legion will continue to donate to the district.
The only thing that would be better, the pro-peace students said, would be if military recruiters stopped coming to their schools altogether.
In that, however, school administrators have no choice but to allow military recruitment in school. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are required to give the military each student’s name, age, address and phone number. No other organization has access to this information besides the military, and military recruiters cannot be barred from recruiting in any school event.
“They are in our malls, in our TVs and in our video games,” Olivia said. “Why can’t they leave our schools alone?” ||
Note: A commentary by one of the students appears in this issue.
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