The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that federal financing for colleges and universities can be cut if the institutions do not provide military recruiters the same access to students that they provide to other employers. The Court did not agree with the universities’ arguments that the requirement violated free speech rights (for those who object to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell). The NYTimes provides a comprehensive review of the decision.

Recruitment continues to be a question at another level of educational institutions: the nation's secondary schools. No Child Left Behind has a provision which requires that

each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

Students and parents have the right to “Opt-Out” of this requirement by making a written request to the school to have their contact information removed from recruiting lists. The New York Daily News ran a story this week about antiwar activists handing out opt-out information at Brooklyn Tech. In a related article, the Daily News reported that

[The New York schools that recruiters target] are academically average and strikingly similar: Most enroll about 4,000 students and are located in ethnically and economically diverse neighborhoods. The dropout rates are better than the citywide average of 16%; more than half of seniors pass state exams and school safety agents swarm the hallways.

As the article goes on to note, recruiters face mixed acceptance on school campuses, with some principals inviting them on campus more often than required and other members of the staff encouraging students not to talk to recruiters.

Brooklyn Parents for Peace runs an active anti-recruiting campaign in Brooklyn schools, focusing on the following activities:

1. Making students more aware of the “opt-out” process (they flyer schools; offer information to parents and students in various languages; writer letters to principals and PTAs)
2. Clarifying myths about the opt-out process (for example, some schools require a deadline for forms to be turned in, but NCLB does not authorize such deadlines).
3. Making available information about how to afford college (recommendations include filling out a FAFSA, getting SAT tutoring, looking into 2-year programs, etc.)

The first Daily News article suggests that the recruiters have figured out ways to combat these efforts:

To get around the list, the military branches have put more recruiters into schools and even approach kids on street corners. "We have other ways of getting names," Yoo said.

Despite the fact that this quote seems too sinister to be real, the underlying issue – get to the kids, despite parental reluctance - seems to be in line with the Army’s larger advertising campaign. One of the more recent narratives (I’ve noticed several of these ads in the movie theater) is the following:

Young potential recruit is spending quality time with parent (in an ad I saw recently, it was an attractive white kid playing pool with his dad). The parent initially is reluctant about the child’s desire to join the Army (or Army Reserves). But the child chips away at the reluctance with talk of good training, desire to serve, etc. The parent comes around by the end of the 30-second commercial with a chuck on the kid’s chin.

You can see this narrative in action on GoArmy.com, where Cathy, mother of John, 17, is concerned about her son joining up but eventually comes to terms with his decision.

From GoArmy:

A mixture of pride in her son and trust in the Army offset Cathy's anxiety. If John was prepared, she could be too. Of course, this first deployment was just the start of his adventure.

Ahhh…..resolution. It’s a subtle suggestion from the Army to its young recruits: we’ll help you figure out ways to guilt-trip your parents into surrendering their objections to your recruitment. I commend them for their masterly ability to stay ahead of the collective psyche, with a fairly subtle response to growing parental discomfort with recruitment.