The Fellowship of Reconciliation pursues a vision of a free and “demilitarized” world in which the Earth’s resources sustain life and promote the well-being of all people.

To do so, we challenge economic exploitation, work to eradicate racism and religious intolerance, and call attention to imperialistic U.S. foreign policy. As we continue to speak truth to power, FOR engages in an ongoing interfaith dialogue to shift the collective unconscious from a fear-based military culture to a peaceful world community grounded in faith and nonviolent justice.

At the start of 2011, we launched a series of projects, campaigns, and collaborations to demilitarize life and land in the Americas and the Middle East.

Artists and peace advocates are using public art to oppose violence, notably in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. The results have varied, advocates say, but the art campaigns have worked to undermine extremists’ calls to violence, and helped communities heal the divisions of war. They have ignited public discussion of local conflicts and even triggered peacebuilding efforts. Art campaigners and peace advocates who have worked across the Middle East and South Asia discussed the uses—and the limits—of public art as a peacebuilding tool, in a recent forum at USIP.

En cooperación con la campaña Desinversión de la máquina de guerra de Codepink, The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth contribuye con esta guía para desmilitarizar nuestras escuelas del alcance de una disposición de la Ley de éxito de todos los niños que permite el acceso sin restricciones a reclutadores militares en nuestras escuelas . Esta guía instruye a los activistas sobre cómo presionar a los distritos escolares para que sigan las pautas de igualdad de acceso y para organizar comunidades, padres, maestros y estudiantes para limitar el acceso de los reclutadores a sus escuelas.

Gran parte del contenido de esta Guía de campaña de desinversión se toma prestada con el permiso de la Red Nacional de Oposición a la Militarización de la Juventud (NNOMY), la Coalición Nacional para Proteger la Privacidad de los Estudiantes, Dejar de Reclutar Niños y Guardar la Educación Civil. Les estamos extremadamente agradecidos por contribuir con su visión y experiencia a este movimiento. Para obtener más información sobre el trabajo de NNOMY, visite http://nnomy.org/index.php/en/. Para proteger el trabajo de la privacidad del estudiante, visite http://www.studentprivacy.org/. Para obtener más información sobre Stop Recruiting Kids, visite: http://srkcampaign.org/. Para obtener más información sobre el trabajo de Save Civilian Education, visite http://savecivilianeducation.org/.

Photo-journalist Nina Berman had the urge to find the wounded returned vets she was reading about in the newspaper, but not seeing pictures of. She discovered that her mental picture of a wounded soldier was one of a soldier being helped off the field by other soldiers, or being accompanied and tended to by a dr. or nurse -- leading to the feeling that the soldier was going to be all right, everything was OK.

What she found instead were acutely lonely men & women fighting the VA for benefits. She interviewed them and recorded the interviews as well as photographing them, and made a 10-minute dvd out of this material, featuring 6 of the 20 vets in the book.

Slide Show on Purple Hearts Project / NY Times

Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decisionmaking process.

 This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data—a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits.

 I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.

Diana Gehlhaus

This document was submitted as a dissertation in May 2020 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctoral degree in public policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. The faculty committee that supervised and approved the dissertation consisted of Dr. Bruce Orvis (Chair), Dr. Charles Goldman, and Dr. Jennifer Li. Dr. Harry Holzer served as the outside reader.
Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decisionmaking process. This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data—a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits. I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decisionmaking process. This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data—a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits. I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decisionmaking process. This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data—a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits. I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decisionmaking process. This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data—a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits. I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.

In Cooperation with Codepink's Divest from the War Machine campaign, The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth contributes this guide for demilitarizing our schools from the over-reach of a provision of the Every Child Succeeds Act that permits unrestricted access to military recruiters in our schools. This guide instructs activists how to lobby school districts to follow equal access guidelines and to organize communities, parents, teachers, and students to limit recruiter access to their schools.

Much of the contents of this Divestment Campaign Guide are borrowed with permission from the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY), National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, Stop Recruiting Kids, and Save Civilian Civilian Education. We are extremely grateful to them for contributing their insight and experience to this movement. To learn more about NNOMY’s work, visit http://nnomy.org/index.php/en/. To Protect Student Privacy’s work, visit http://www.studentprivacy.org/. To learn more about Stop Recruiting Kids, visit: http://srkcampaign.org/. To learn more about Save Civilian Education’s work, visit http://savecivilianeducation.org/.

You can visit Codepink's Divest from the War Machine website at https://www.divestfromwarmachine.org/