No child left behind by the military's recruiting machine

THIS is a message to alert high school students and their parents that schools are now required to report personal contact information on all students to military recruiters.

All school districts are required, under Section 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act, to release student records to military recruiters or the schools risk losing funding. Schools also are required to inform families of their "opt out" rights. Families have the right to privacy; parents need to know that they may request the school not to give their child's information to military recruiters, without the risk of missing out on contact by college recruiters.

Last year, parents received opt-out forms with their children's info packets sent out at the beginning of the school year. This year, it seems the Department of Education and/or the military have made it increasingly hard for students to avoid being on the recruiters' database.

To opt out, parents now need to contact their children's high schools and ask what they need to do, either write a letter to the school requesting to keep their children's information private or they need to go to the school office and fill out an opt-out form in person. I called different high schools; two said parents need to show up at the office and sign a form, while another school said parents could write a letter asking for their child's information to remain private.

Military recruiters will also be administering the ASVAB, an optional Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a tool used to measure academic strength and natural skills in children. The results of these tests help the recruiters target your child's potential in the military, giving them an advantage in recruiting. Your child could opt out of this process also without affecting any college or career options.

In addition, parents may opt out of the Pentagon's database and learn more about military recruiters and opting out by going to www.themmob.org/lmca/index.html. On this site you also will see some of the ways recruiters are reaching our young people, you can print opt-out forms, and you can forward this information on to friends and family members.

I trust this is valuable information for parents who want to know all the options their children have before them. For those parents who want to be more proactive in promoting a more peaceful future through education, please contact www.thepeacealliance.org to support a Cabinet-level Department of Peace bill that now is before both houses of Congress (House Resolution 3760 and Senate 1756).

---