What Can You Do About Excessive Military Recruiter Access in Your Schools?

Kathy Barker of Washington Truth in Recruiting

The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY) realizes we need to speak to those individual citizens who respond to our public appeals for participation in school demilitarization campaigns but are not aligned to a peace group.

The information below bridges your concerns and our experience.

Who we are

The type of activism called Truth in Recruiting or Counter-recruitment grew out of the anti-draft movement with a realization that there was a need to challenge the so called voluntary military as the Pentagon began an aggressive and manipulative multi-tiered campaign of recruiting America's youth and to oppose a corporatization and privatization of our nation’s schools.

What does NNOMY do?

We assist organizations and individuals to reclaim our schools for learning and not for Military Recruiting.

What can you do to show your concern or objection to excessive military recruiter access in a public school?

You don't have to be an organization to publicly address your concerns with your school or school district. Changing policies to protect student privacy from military recruiters requires community and individual actions.

We welcome you to participate in NNOMY campaigns and we offer resources and assistance according to the time you have, and the commitment you feel. If you want to make an impact you need to share your concerns of the dangers of promoting military culture and veiled and direct military recruitment in our public schools. Here are some actions you can make to address the need for school demilitarization.

You Can:

Share this page with your networks that are concerned about increasing school militarization (See share links below)
Establish a "Recruitment Observatory" at your public school to keep track of how many of students are being contacted and what they are being told by military recruiters. School officials can be influenced to moderate recruiter access if the community speaks up and follow recommended policies established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of the U.S. Department of Education.
If military recruiters are going beyond career fairs and are roaming your public school hallways and cafeterias, or substituting for regular physical education teachers, you can say enough. Start by writing a letter to your school principal that this is not acceptable and follow it up with a letter to your school board as well. Find out how others have prevailed to reign in military recruiters in their communities.
Did you know that the military is likely conducting testing in your public school under the cover of career placement? It is actually data mining student information for a recruiters contact data base and your not being told about it. Send an Email to Your School Officials says the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy (ASVAB testing and DOD student Data mining)
One of the most important things we can do is to inform young people fully about what is really at stake in joining the military. Distributing Winning The Peace Palm Cards in front at your local high schools can accomplish answering important questions students should have the answers to directly on their smart phones that they will not get from military recruiters making their enlistment quotas. Our youth deserve an informed decision to join the military or not. Read below to find out more about the Winning the Peace Campaign:
- Winning the Peace / Palm Card for high school leafleting
  The War Resisters' League Palm Cards, Questions to Consider, are now available for purchase in bulk for those groups interested in participating in the national Winning The Peace leafleting of high schools now commencing on November 14th, 2016 for the War Resisters' International Week of Actions. You can order them at: https://www.warresisters.org/store/questions-consider

Other things you can do. You can talk to:

Maria Santelli at the Center for Conscience & War at 202-483-2220
Pat Elder of the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy at 301-997-3963
Rick Jahnkow of the Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities at 760-634-3604
Libby Frank of the Northwest Suburban Peace & Education Project at 773-292-0041
Gary Ghirardi of the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth at 415-230-0276

You can organize as an activist:

In any Decision you Make to Assist...

...NNOMY is here to assist you. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (760) 634-3604. If no one is available to take your call, leave a message, a contact number, a best time to reach you, and a staff person will get back to you.

Revised 02/19/2017

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