Military recruiting in schools: We’re coming to you!
While doing my nightly browse of the London Free Press, I stumbled across an article about a Grade 12 student named Martin Schoots-McAlpine at my old high school, South. The Canadian Armed Forces plans to visit the school on October 24th for what the Thames Valley school board has termed a “normal career visit”.
Part one: Fight fear!
First of all, I can certainly say that the military provides options no other post-secondary institution can provide. The first option on the first menu on the CAF web site is “subsidized education.” Following the link provides this little blurb:
“If you qualify for service as a Regular Force officer except for the university degree, this plan may be for you. We will help you earn a degree by providing time and support for part-time study, educational reimbursement, and, if necessary, a period of full-time subsidized education at a university.”
Wow. Can you imagine? And I thought that if I went to university, I’d come out of it into a risky job market with 40 grand in student loans. This way, I have a job–no, a career–and no debts. All I have to do is join the Army. The page goes on to the long list of possible plans.
The next option in that main menu is “pay and benefits”. A full time officer, according to their web site, starts at $42,000/year. After 5 years, this bumps up to 66 grand. For those playing the home game, I make roughly $26k every year. Maybe I should give up my promising career as a CNC operator and go learn how to kill people.
Now, imagine you’re a high school student, about to graduate. Let me restate your choices:
1) Go to university, go into debt for at least $20,000 per year that you’ll spend 10 years paying off–assuming you find a job that will allow you to make the payments without living off of Kraft dinner. Once you’re out of university, you may get that dream job, or wind up working for minimum wage. It’s kind of risky, but you’ve got ambition on your side. Either way, finding a job with decent benefits makes your goals even less likely.
2) Join the military, have your entire post-secondary education paid for, eat reasonably well. After all, the commercials tell you that you’ll be able to take your army training and education into civilian life. Why would you want to, though? Exciting things happen in the army–you get to see the world! And, it sure beats half-assed benefits and minimum wage.
I think that, as much of a pacifist as I am, if I were in Grade 12 looking at this, I’d at least think about it. I’d hate to think what would happen if I was in any way impressionable.
Part two: A normal career visit for the people
I went digging and found a group on Facebook that Mr. Schoots-McAlpine started in order to organize his anti-war event. I remember South, and it came as no surprise to me that the administration immediately balked at rocking the boat, as it were:
“I talked with the Principal of South SS….today as to any kind of counter-recruitment actions that could take place within the school. All requests were flatly denied. I was accused of attempting to politicize a non-political issue, and she had the audacity to tell me that the Canadian Military does not take a pro-war stance in relation to Haiti and Afghanistan. She did say that she would call the Board of Education office in order to see whether or not the Board allows recruiters in schools.”
Okay. I guess I was mistaken–our presence in Afghanistan isn’t a political issue, and our politicians aren’t actually arguing over a time frame to get our people out. The notion that our esteemed military “does not take a pro-war stance” about Afghanistan is propaganda straight from our educator’s mouths. And, of course, the brave face of said educator as appears in the Free Press:
“But presenting all opinions is always a good idea, principal Barb Sonier said yesterday….When the student spoke out against [the CAF visit], [Chris] Dennett noted, South’s administrators offered him his own platform.”
I guess that, in order to be graciously offered his own platform, Mr. Schoots-McAlpine first had to be denied his right to free speech, fed the party line, be accused of being an attention-seeker, and then offered the magnanimous gesture of seeing whether the Thames Valley school board allowed an event that had already been signed off on. Only once the media got involved did they spin it around and say that it was okay for him to organize any kind of opposition to the visit–an anti-war discussion. This means that while the CAF is allowed to set up shop in the lobby near the cafeteria, the opposition gets to have a discussion on the second floor of the school, in a classroom, presumably with the door closed so as not to disturb nearby classes.
What have I learned? Our education system, paid for by our tax dollars, is allowed to promote the military, attempt to silence any voice against it by ridicule and outright lies, change their opinion to effect spin control once the media gets involved–and if they can’t silence the dissension, they can at least make sure that it’s quiet enough that nobody hears.
Here! Here! Well said!