Uncle Sam Wants Your Students
RSSMilitary recruitment on high school campuses is becoming controversial
By Joan Oleck -- School Library Journal, 10/01/2006
Do high school students get the full story about military service when recruiters approach them on campus or call them at home? In some communities, on-campus recruitment has led to complaints that military reps are overly aggressive and give students a one-sided view of service that downplays the risk of assignment in a war zone such as Iraq. Now, a lawsuit by a California teacher is highlighting the issues in the growing national controversy.
Social studies teacher Alberto Gutierrez was provoked by the frequent presence of military recruiters at San Fernando (CA) High School, where the students are 96 percent Latino, 75 percent low income, and often have family members serving in the military. Gutierrez presented to his students antiwar materials, including Michael Moore’s controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and a performance by an artist calling himself “Master of War,” who spoke about the “profit motive” for war. (He did so covered in fake blood.) According to his suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, Gutierrez claims he subsequently received negative personnel reviews from former Principal Jose Luis Rodriguez, as well as “ongoing harassment by the administration.” Neither district officials nor Rodriguez, who has since been promoted to an administrative position within the district, would comment on the case.
San Fernando High librarian Kitty Kroger has also been vocal in her complaints about the recruiters’ questionable tactics. “They used to be here every Wednesday, with all kinds of gadgets,” she says. “They had a chin-up bar, lots of T-shirts, and knickknacks.” Students are also being barraged at home. “They’re getting phone calls, they’re getting knocks on the door—it’s unrelenting sometimes.” In response, Kroger stocked the school library with American Friends Service Committee antiwar brochures. Kroger says Rodriguez limited the recruiters to one visit per week.
The 2002 No Child Left Behind Act requires schools that give college recruiters access to do the same for the military. The Pentagon also may obtain students’ addresses, and home and cell phone numbers. Parents can sign an opt-out form.
As Gutierrez’s lawsuit moves forward, Kroger is seeking permission from the new school principal, Kenneth Lee, to show students Arlington West, an independent documentary being marketed to schools and community groups. It focuses on interviews with Iraq veterans and family members at southern California beaches, where protestors weekly erect temporary crosses and other grave symbols for the war dead in Iraq and Afghanistan. The filmmakers say the movie takes an evenhanded approach, but some viewers have said it favors an antiwar view.
“Unfortunately, because of federal law, the schools are very enmeshed with the military,” Kroger says. “I think it’s the responsibility of everybody—I don’t think school librarians have a 'special’ responsibility—to make kids aware of alternatives to the military. There are other ways [students can] get into college.”
