Recruiters of Conscience

Village Voice: Feeling a Draft?
Poor kids of color fight the Pentagon":

On January 15 and 16, a coalition of local peace and student groups met in Manhattan to brainstorm ways to reach kids with the facts, starting with their right not to give up their personal info. "Schools are obligated to inform both parents and students of their right to opt out," said Amy of Youth Activists-Youth Allies (Ya-Ya), which helped organize the weekend counter-recruitment workshop. "Different schools and districts are doing a different quality of job with that "ranging from letters sent home to each student to a small classified ad in the local paper."

Ya-Ya has been meeting with high school officials, convincing them that giving recruiters "equal access" does not mean giving them free access to roam the halls and pull kids out of class. The group's teenage members hand out flyers at area public schools about the dangers of signing up for an eight-year hitch. One of them is headlined "What Recruiters Don't Want You to Know." Others talk about institutional racism, sexism, and homophobia in the military, and false economic promises.

It is a wonderful thing to behold young activists on such a noble - and practical - pursuit. We're gonna need these people even more once the neocon house of cards collapses under the weight of greed, blood and "miscalculations" as Cheney might charitably put it.