Gilroy
– High school students will be protected from unwanted military
recruiters if a bill authored by Mike Honda (D-San Jose) becomes
law.
The bill proposes the reversal of military recruitment policies
under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Gilroy – High school students will be protected from unwanted military recruiters if a bill authored by Mike Honda (D-San Jose) becomes law.
The bill proposes the reversal of military recruitment policies under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Under current policy, high schools are required to give a student’s personal contact information to military recruiters, or the school is denied federal funding. However, if parents sign a form blocking the release of their child’s information, military recruiters cannot contact the student. The problem is, this form comes in a packet at the beginning of the school year that parents don’t always read thoroughly.
“The phone calls we got from parents alerted me to the issue,” Honda said. “Most parents said they didn’t know this was happening. Parents don’t read everything.”
Honda’s proposal calls for the recruitment provisions under NCLB to change from an opt-out concept to an opt-in. Therefore, instead of having to sign a form preventing their child’s personal information from being disseminated, parents must choose request to have the information released to recruiters.
“As a school teacher, principal and parent – it was the opposite of what I believe should happen at schools,” Honda said. “I’m not against military recruiters being on campus, I have a problem when parents are not given the right to refuse first.”
Gilroy High School assistant principal Greg Camacho-Light believes this policy is on target.
“Personally, I think that would make more sense because you don’t have to be diligent about keeping the information secret,” he said.
After their parents’ signature, Janie Gillespie, GHS’ office coordinator, is a student’s first line of defense in protecting their personal contact information.
She collects the forms parents return who wish to block the release of their child’s contact information, and blackens out the name on the lists given to military recruiters when they visit the campus.
“We don’t get a whole lot back from most parents,” she said. “We probably get about 250 back out of 2,500. It’s not many, but it’s a lot compared to what we get back from most things.” Parents either miss the form amidst papers reminding students of senior portrait lists, do not have strong feelings about their child speaking with a recruiter, or know the child’s preference already, she said.
According to Gillespie, about three to four students go directly into the military upon graduation. Recently the numbers have increased to between six and eight.
Military recruiters from the various branches visit the GHS campus several times each month, Camacho-Light said. Students are not allowed to sign up for recruitment on campus.
Meanwhile, films such as ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ propel the image of military recruiters hunting down students at shopping malls and movie theaters, promising free money, targeting low-income kids to fill their quotas.
But when military recruiters visit GHS, Camacho-Light explained that they are usually respectful of the rules, and limit their promises to pencils and lanyards.
“We haven’t had an experience when they’ve done anything egregious,” he said, “but we have had situations where the recruiter may have overstayed their welcome by talking to students after the bell.”
Navy Journalist First Class Craig Coleman was uncertain of the truth behind the horror stories of military recruitment.
“Recruiters come to schools by appointment, and tell them what the Navy has to offer,” he said. “Then it’s up to the student. Because recruiters don’t really recruit anyone who’s not interested – I don’t understand why there would be horror stories.”
GHS parent Priscilla Young is a supporter of Honda’s new bill, precisely because she has heard of them.
“I think it should be someone’s choice,” she said about the release of their personal information. “I don’t think it should be automatic.”
Young’s son is a senior at GHS and has received multiple phone calls from military recruiters. So many, that she has asked at least two separate branches to remove her son from their lists.
“They’re calling like crazy,” Young said. “They just call up and say, “Hi is Eric there?’ like they’re a buddy or something.”
While Young supports the military, she believes the recruiters stretch the truth when talking to students.
“Recruiters will tell them anything, like ‘We’ll pay for all of college, and “You won’t have to go to Iraq.’ They make it like a party atmosphere – I’ve seen them at air shows and things. I do think that they tell kids (inaccurate) information just to get them to sign on the dotted line.”
Should Honda’s bill pass, parents who feel similarly to Young could prevent military recruiters from contacting their children whether they sign a form or not.
