01.25.05
Posted in education at 3:12 pm by
If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I think the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act is just about the worst piece of shit legislation this country has ever seen. Recently, I was listening to NPR and I heard about yet another provision of this bill. This one sent my blood pressure through the roof. I know at the outset that this is a topic I can’t cover in one short post. I’ll deal with some thoughts today, and a few more tomorrow.
It turns out that NCLB legislation has an allowance in it that makes available all the names and telephone numbers of any student that attends a high school funded by the government monies. Essentially, then, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine recruiters are given the names of every public school attending student in this country.
I won’t go into the tactics that these recruiters use to recruit individuals into the service (at least not until tomorrow) but suffice it to say, they don’t abide by the same rules that college recruiters abide by (I know it’s true, I’ve been both a student and a college recruiter.)
I don’t know if this seems strange to others, but it does to me. After all, this year many public high schools have been mandated to remove junk food dispensing machines or pop vending machines. Much of this comes at the behest of governmental agencies. Evidently, high school students shouldn’t have the choice of easily fattening foods or drinks. Why then, is it suddenly kosher to think that for some reason these students should be capable to make a decision about whether or not they want to step out onto the front lines with bullets whizzing by their heads.
When I was 18, I shouldn’t have been making that decision. I mean, the service never really appealed to me, BUT, I also probably shouldn’t have been allowed to vote…or probably drive. I wasn’t an adult. I was easily swayed by fanciful stories of glory…I didn’t even know what true glory was.
Why is it that we allow the military first dibs on our kids but a college that wants the name and number of a student must obtain that name and number through a voluntary source.
It’s something to think about. Tomorrow, more on the questionable ethicality of some military recruiting techniques.
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Posted in education at 3:12 pm by
If you’ve been around this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I think the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act is just about the worst piece of shit legislation this country has ever seen. Recently, I was listening to NPR and I heard about yet another provision of this bill. This one sent my blood pressure through the roof. I know at the outset that this is a topic I can’t cover in one short post. I’ll deal with some thoughts today, and a few more tomorrow.
It turns out that NCLB legislation has an allowance in it that makes available all the names and telephone numbers of any student that attends a high school funded by the government monies. Essentially, then, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine recruiters are given the names of every public school attending student in this country.
I won’t go into the tactics that these recruiters use to recruit individuals into the service (at least not until tomorrow) but suffice it to say, they don’t abide by the same rules that college recruiters abide by (I know it’s true, I’ve been both a student and a college recruiter.)
I don’t know if this seems strange to others, but it does to me. After all, this year many public high schools have been mandated to remove junk food dispensing machines or pop vending machines. Much of this comes at the behest of governmental agencies. Evidently, high school students shouldn’t have the choice of easily fattening foods or drinks. Why then, is it suddenly kosher to think that for some reason these students should be capable to make a decision about whether or not they want to step out onto the front lines with bullets whizzing by their heads.
When I was 18, I shouldn’t have been making that decision. I mean, the service never really appealed to me, BUT, I also probably shouldn’t have been allowed to vote…or probably drive. I wasn’t an adult. I was easily swayed by fanciful stories of glory…I didn’t even know what true glory was.
Why is it that we allow the military first dibs on our kids but a college that wants the name and number of a student must obtain that name and number through a voluntary source.
It’s something to think about. Tomorrow, more on the questionable ethicality of some military recruiting techniques.
Permalink
Trackback URL »
http://www.badchristian.com/2005/01/25/no_child_left_unlied_to/trackback/
