CR Activist Reports

Marshall Blesofsky - From Draft NOtices, January-March 2019

On February 14, 2018, the unthinkable but all-too-common happened. A mass shooting occurred at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Rumors about the identity of the shooter were that he was a former student who had been in JROTC. One week later, on Democracy Now, Amy Goodman's guest was Pat Elder, the director of the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy. This organization works to counter the access that the military has to students in high schools. Mr. Elder went on to state that the shooter was trained in the marksmanship program at the same high school. On the day of the murders, the shooter wore his JROTC shirt. Also, among the killed were three JROTC students.

Long Beach Recruitment Awareness Project (LB RAP) is an organization that has been working to safeguard the privacy of students through what we call truth-in-recruitment. Military recruiters in our school district can visit the schools almost any time they wish. They collect student contact information and use it to pursue them. We have documented cases of students who have been hounded by recruiters without their parents' consent and lured by false promises to join the military.

Mary E. Klassen -  

Because the U.S. military actively recruits in public schools, Elkhart Advocates for Peace and Justice is working to bring a counter message.

“Nurturing Peace in our Community Schools” takes an emphasis on peace education into school lunchrooms at three high schools: Elkhart Central, Elkhart Memorial and Concord.

“Our objective is for students to know about a wide range of information from alternative, peace-orientated sources before they make a dramatically life-changing decision to sign up for military service,” said Wendell Wiebe-Powell, one of the leaders of the counter-recruiting effort.

Fellow member Jorge Vielman notes that one doesn’t have to serve in the military to be a good citizen.

“Working at peace is an option that the nation doesn’t present to young people,” he said.

The volunteers who spend time at a “Peace Education Table” during lunch periods emphasize what they are for more than what they are against. Wiebe-Powell encourages volunteers to let the students know they respect those who serve in the military but want students to be aware of alternative information, perspectives and peace-oriented opportunities.

Many students are concerned about how they will pay for a college education, so one of the volunteers’ goals is to share information. They talk about alternatives for funding higher education and career and volunteer service opportunities outside of the military. They also share information about the realities of military service and war that military recruiters do not tell students.

“We’re trying to show them options they haven’t known about before,” Louise Claassen said.

At the table, labeled with a banner saying “A different way to serve,” volunteers visit with students, answer questions and provide handouts with information. They also test students’ interest in creating a peace club in their school. Since the start of the effort a year ago, more than 50 students in the three schools have expressed interest in being part of a peace club.

Peter G. Anderheggen | Originally published in Draft NOtices - August/September, 2017

Winsted Area Peace Action has been visiting high schools in northwestern Connecticut for at least ten years. The purpose of our visits has been to introduce and discuss with students alternative methods of service to the country and non-military means of earning money after high school. Our goal is to bring some contrast to the appeal of the military, which spends many millions of dollars in its recruiting efforts. We make information available on such organizations as AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, Peace Brigades International and Heifer International, all of which take people who are age 18 or older.

We are usually invited during the lunch periods, often with a table set up in the vicinity of the cafeteria. There are several lunch sessions and invariably the students arrive in droves, hungry and eager to visit with friends. Our challenge is to present something that catches their eyes and engages them.

About five years ago, one of our members who was carrying out research for a book, Seth Kershner, went to Austin, Texas, and visited a high school along with Sustainable Options for Youth (SOY). He saw how a peace wheel could be effectively used to attract students to a table. The wheel intrigued our members and we ordered one from Thomas Heikkala, a Vietnam veteran and skilled carpenter who was one of the founding members of SOY.

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford -

The counter recruitment effort in U-46 School District, which is the second largest school district in Illinois after Chicago, was begun several years ago by Bettina Perillo. She is a member of Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren in Elgin, and a member of Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice. The effort began with a counter recruitment table at Elgin High School once a month.

As more volunteers joined in and the work gained sponsorship from the two above-named groups, the effort ran into criticism and active opposition from school administrators. Supporters went to the school district board meetings to express the need for counter recruitment in the high schools, meetings were held with school district officials including the school district lawyer, and meetings were held with members of the administration at Elgin High School. With help from AFSC in Chicago, who gave advice and helped speak to the school district board about the legal requirement for equal access to high schools that are visited by military recruiters, the counter recruitment effort was given equal access.

Since then, counter recruitment tables have been at Elgin High School and Larkin High School (also in Elgin) once a month, and for a couple of years also were at South Elgin High School.