Counter-recruiting

[Janus]

I've been thinking about starting up some counter-recruitment activities in my school since military recruiters seem to visit it a lot due to the fact that it is situated in a lower-income neighborhood.

So anyone with experience in this have tips, advice, or flyers that you'll be willing to share?

[Tower of Bebel]

I'm in the army and people need to know that the army is obsolete. For example: If you are exposed to radioactivity as a soldier you will be examined of course. If you are capable of doing your mission you will be send back. They don't care if your life gets shortened because of radiation , the mission is priority.

[rouchambeau]

I went to a workshop on counter-military recruitment this summer and I picked up a few tips.

#1. Get parents involved in a kids decision to join the military and in knowing what the military does. This goes double for No Child Left Behind. NCLB allows the military to get records of information about kids from schools. If more parents knew about this they would think twice about letting their kid into the military.

2#. Counter-tabling. If the recruiters set up outside of the lunchroom or something, then you can "counter-recruit" right by them. I'm pretty sure you cannot be punished for it unless you're out of class. I forget what court case set the precident allowing for distribution of information in schools, but I'm sure it exists.

Try looking at www.militaryfreezone.org and www.peaceactionwi.org

[An archist]

I took away all the military pamphlets and handed them out to the alternative and leftist kids at my school :P

it wasn't a big thing, but recruitment isn't reallty a big problem here

[Tower of Bebel]

Recruitement at my school? Most wont remember there was one. I went. Hearing that you get 2,000 euros for just being a lieutenant is frustrating. <_<
My arm was broken, so I went undercover :lol:

[Janus]

NCLB allows the military to get records of information about kids from schools. If more parents knew about this they would think twice about letting their kid into the military.
So that&#39;s how they got my number. :(


it wasn&#39;t a big thing, but recruitment isn&#39;t reallty a big problem here
It depends what school you go to but recruiters love to target schools in low-income neighborhoods.


Try looking at www.militaryfreezone.org and www.peaceactionwi.org
Thanks. Will do.

[Red October]

military recruiters come to my high school regularly during lunch, and i was wondering if anyone had any good tactics or ideas on how to engage them without getting beat down.

[LuXe]

Beat THEM down. :D

[MrDoom]

Stab them with their boonie hats.

[Raj Radical]

http://militaryfreezone.com/

Ask the school administration if you can set up a booth during lunch that provides information on how to "Opt-Out" (removing your information from the list that recruiters can get ahold of) to other kids etc.

Its worth a shot

[Red October]

yeah, mfz is a great resource. i already turned in my opt-out forms and im trying to get some sort of organization together at my school for this kind of stuff.

[Janus]

The problem is that military recruiters go for the impoverished community schools constantly. On certain months, they show up almost every day and that&#39;s something that shouldn&#39;t happen.

Spread awareness on the opt-out decision and maybe try to get some local vet. peace groups to come to your school. There&#39;s also flyers and info. you can get from peace websites on the net.

[Everyday Anarchy]

My school gets recruiters from every military branch all the time. My friend and I go up and start talking to them and ask them stupid questions or things like "So how many people have you killed?" or "Is it fun blowing up people&#39;s homes?"

This serves to tick them off and keep them busy with us so other students don&#39;t have to listen to their lies.

[Janus]

Merged. Hope some of these tips and resources help.

[Red October]

its always good to engage them so they cant do their jobs, and its best if they end up looking like fools. at my school they have pamphlets sitting out in the library so we takr those and put anti-recruiter pamphlets inside.

[Tekun]

Military idiots rarely show up at my Uni
But in HS, they showed up all the damn time
I wish I would have had these resources back when I was in HS, they would have come in handy

[midnight marauder]

Also, be sure to remember that there are certain precautions you and your family can take to help prevent any recruiters from obtaining your personal information. Under the current Bush administration, the imperialists can call up on any student in the high school population and obtain their information for recruitment. The biggest problem with this procedure is that they don&#39;t tell you about it, and because know one knows, it isn&#39;t often challenged.

One of the things that you can do to combat this problem is writing a letter, sealed and signed with your parents signature, explaining that you don&#39;t want any military officials to obtain your information and why that is.

It isn&#39;t fool proof, but it&#39;s at least a start. There are other ways that the imperialists can attempt to recruit you but not without going through some loop holes. At any rate, it makes your position on the military clear.

After this, just about the only thing that you can do is reeducate your peers. The military won&#39;t like this, and the school won&#39;t like this, so it may take a bit of trial and error to figure what exactly are the best routes to go on this topic.

As others have suggested, you could try making a counter table to the recruiters table: it&#39;s a good idea, but unless you have the school&#39;s permission expect to be shut down quick.

Another method you could try is to engage the recruiters in a debate. Explain the problems and inadequacies of the armed "services." Be sure to do this in a way that other students and observers can understand and relate to, which isn&#39;t a hard thing to do. The link posted earlier by Raj Radical to the Military Free Zone should provide about all the information you&#39;ll need to effectively combat any recruiters in a debate, although there are only a seldom few recruiters who will actually be able to hold a conversation in any capacity for more than a few minutes.

You could always try going to the school directly, but of course under the Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights case and the Solomon amendment, that&#39;ll get shot down faster than going quail hunting with Dick Cheney.

As always, be sure to have plenty of counterinformation ready at your disposal. It&#39;s always a good idea to have plenty of leaflets at hand to pass out to prospective military going students.

Unfortunately, you can&#39;t kick them out, but there&#39;s plenty of precedence in being successful in preventing other students from signing their lives away.

[Red October]

yeah. i live in north carolina, the self-proclaimed "most military friendly state", so the fight is an uphill one. the military recruits many more kids than other states, so many of my fellow students are receptive to their messge. and it doesnt help that much of the base population is poor.

[Political_Chucky]

Wow, me and my friend had discussed this a while back. In riverside, Rubidoux highschool is often viewed as the "ghetto" or more gang-related highschool. There many many MANY visits by the military personal and we were even pushed to take the asvab career exploration test which is basically a manuel for what jobs are availible in the military. Looking at that militaryfreezone.com, it is a very good idea, in my opinion, to give these opt out papers to students at schools so they are at least aware of military propaganda and the dangers of selling your self to the government. I will talk to my Mecha club president and the president of nearby schools on giving these out, especially on the days when army recruits are set-up.