Comparing and Contrasting Proponents and Opponents’ Perception on High School Military
Following the inception of “No Child Left Behind” Act of the year 2002, recruiters of the United States military personnel have access to all schools that receive State funds to target recruitment of high school children. The act targets to recruit students aged between 14 to 18 years to join the American armed forces. The act of recruiting the military personnel from high schools has grown in vigor and aggression, the phenomenon is not particular to the United States as United Kingdom already has a third of its armed forces recruited at an age less than 18 years. Supporters of the move appreciate the significant position the military holds in the historical development and sustenance of American socio-economic status. They believe the process of making the military strong and reliable needs to take all angles and consider all available options. While recruiting high school teenagers may hold a bright future for the army, the long term effects on the adolescent military personnel stand several risks. Therefore, military recruitment should not be done in high schools and elementary schools owing to the risks the military service poses to adolescents.
It is correct that school children have the entitlement to a variety of career information. Potential roles in the military and armed forces is not an exception to the career opportunities teenagers and young adults should get access to. The school gives students guidance on the paths of career they can prosper in as well as an opportunity to interact with their future employers. The proponents argue that from age in memory, nationalism has been an integral portion of school curricula. They say there is no prominent paradigm shift from the already widely accepted shows of loyalty like citation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance to include recruitment in schools. However, there is absolutely no need to preach military prospects to the youth while in a trusting environment such as schools. Permitting organizations to advertise their job prospects to the children when their critical faculties are nascent is misguiding. Recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance promote American students’ nationalism. Taking the step higher to get children to join the military for this simple fact disrupts and threatens the promising career paths for children.
The greatest argument in support of military recruitment in high schools is the fact that the young people are never ignorant of what they place themselves into when they accept to join the military at tender ages. There is an argument that the young militants do have the full knowledge of the risks they place themselves when they accept or decline to join the military. This increased awareness is because of the media’s concentration on negative military news. Every day, the media air the ugly truth of Afghanistan and Iraqi military combats. According to Donald Rumsfeld, joining the armed forces may be the best opportunity most American adolescents have to attain a college education. Additionally, supporters of the military crusade detest that military recruitment never takes place straight from classrooms. Those interested get a chance to think their decisions over. They have a few to discuss their future prospects in the military with their parents and peers.
The claims of full knowledge of risks in the military for the high school students may be misleading. It is insufficient to rely on news aired on television as enough warnings on the risks of a military career. Given today’s media industry, there is an element of heroism that every media program tries to put across. Video games, movies and program series aired on televisions attempt to spread elements of heroism. The actions look so real to a young mind that they imagine the real military combats are as they appear on movies. Given the developmental stages of their brains, adolescents fall to such hoodwinking perceptions and join the military with the hopes of turning out to be the never-dying super hero in the battle field. The media downplays the real image of military service to a point of banality. The situation gets worse as the military personnel who know the truth about the battle field are always reluctant to offer sufficient advice required by the world at large. Everyone is concerned about portraying hero’s image and the sad, dull truths of military service always elude the high school adolescents.
In addition to the above prospects, there are immense public health issues of the young who join the military. Adolescents targeted by the high school military recruitment drive are often at a vulnerable stage of brain development. They experience disproportionately higher effects of health from stress than their older counterparts. According to a research carried out by American Public Health Association, the adolescent age defines a stage in life where one is unable to make informed choices. A bulk of enlisted recruits in American high schools is in their late adolescence. This is a stage in life when youths undergo robust growth and portray a significant deal of physical health. The vigorous physical health is never proportionate to mental development. Their brains are never fully developed and it is the worst time to introduce any form of stress that is characteristic of military service. The undisputable aspects of military service include disengagement from family members, absolute obedience, potential for physical injury and death, and all-time uniform appearance. There is a need for responsibility beyond the needs of the individual.
Like many other policy decisions, recruitment of school children to the military suffers an enormous blow from adolescents’ inability to make choices for lifelong decisions. Their inability to make uncompromised decisions underlies several public policies. The results of the drive to recruit teenagers may not provide different results from drunken adolescent motorists causing thousands of road carnage. Raising the institutions of recruiting military personnel to middle level colleges may be the best thing for the future of the country. This could follow in the same spirit as the government and raise the age of purchasing and possessing alcoholic beverages from 18 years to 21 years in 1984.
