I just received a letter disclosing an outrageous (not to say obscene) aspect of the No Child Left Behind education reform law. Our high school principal wrote to inform us that a provision of NCLB requires high schools “to provide lists of all juniors and seniors, including names, addresses and telephone numbers, to military recruiters.” (My son is a rising junior, hence we were on the receiving end of this surprising piece of news.)
The letter went on to explain that parents can opt out of this nasty bit of mischief by sending or faxing a signed letter to the school’s guidance counselor, asking for their child’s name to be removed from the recruitment list. But in the absence of a document signed by the parents, the school will turn over contact information to the military.
Were we aware of this egregious invasion of privacy? If we were, how did we sit still for it?
Under the guise, no less, of education reform! Educate them, by all means — teach ’em to read and write, straighten their teeth, strengthen their muscles — and then let them be marched off to die in wars not of their making. Even before they are old enough to vote.
Okay, I’m a lifelong pacifist. But one doesn’t even have to open a discussion of one’s point of view on war to be outraged at this cunning subterfuge. Shadow draft indeed.
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The recruiting notification was well publicized in the news and you were notified by your principal that you can opt out.
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It’s a law that gives informed choice. What could be better?
committee member. Last year we re-wrote our policy so that it tightly controls access to a student’s information. We now place an “opt-out” option in the hands of all high-school parents at the beginning of the school year, which allows them to deny access easily and clearly. If we do not have the box checked on the form, then the student’s information goes out if requested.
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I urge you to bring this issue to your school committee’s attention. That’s how policy gets changed.
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If you need help, I’ll be glad to guide you through the process. Let me know.
Seems like a reasonable policy – parent can opt-out.
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What % do, in fact, opt out?
Leave My Child Alone is a group sponsored by anti-war groups (decent ones, too, not loonball ANSWER-type groups) that gives tools to deal with this. I know the ACLU is suing as well…
And the essential info in this century (well, the beginning part anyway):
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http://themmob.org/l…
They’re our Armed Forces, right? I registered when I was required to, and so should everyone else, as required. I’d say this is civic obligation, not a “nasty bit of mischief.”
And now, look at the activism about providing a recruiter with an address, so that the kid can actually make up his own mind whether or not to join.
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How dare the Federal government encourage an 18 year old to think! Or to make it easier to have a volunteer military.
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Maybe instead a better policy would be to subsidize twenty-somethings to live at home with mom. A stay-at-home tax credit. /snark
so that’s one difference, since I assume girls are included in the info to recruiters. Also, Selective Service is not part of the Department of Defense, so it’s not the same as giving your info directly to military recruiters. I don’t know the precise extent to which military recruiters have access to Selective Service information absent an emergency requiring a draft.
To my understanding, recruiters do not have access to information collected through selective service. They must get it elsewhere.
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I have no problem with military recruitment (well, not the sexually abusive/semi-stalking kind on the rise in GAO reports) but an “opt-out” is a way to make people hand over information. Opt-out deals on information are illegal through much of the private sector, with good reason.
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On the other hand, maybe we should make the “volutnary taxation” an opt-out rather than an opt-in. That’s something for the pro-tax-hike crowd…
They need to register for Selective Service anyway. Some juniors might be 17; so this horrible invasion of privacy might mean that the information gets to the military months sooner than it otherwise would.
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Big deal. If you don’t like it, opt out.
As noted above, girls are exempt from Selective Service, and Selective Service isn’t part of DoD.