Trouble, Part II

[mamculuna]

This continues my tale from my last post, about getting escorted off the military base.

First, the event was a career fair, put on by the inner-city school district. 8th graders were bussed to the military base, where people representing different careers sat at tables--except for the military recruiters who wandered among the kids, chatting them up.

Second, the military have not been making their recruitment goals (wonder why) and are really pushing hard. We have had some activities lately publicizing the fact that students don't have to give their names to military recruiters.

Third, our organization had been completely upfront with the school district about who we are (Peace Resources--that's the letter head) and what we'd be doing.

Here's the description from the people who were there initially:

"We had arranged weeks in advance to participate in the
Career Quest as Peace Resource volunteers; all my correspondence with the
organizers identified me as the Peace Resource career fair liaison. I don't think anyone could have anticipated that we would be banned from participating
because we wore shirts that said 'Peace is Patriotic' at a public school
function.In fact, early on [we] were interrogated about our
purpose and our handouts by an extremely belligerent man who was more
interested in his questions than in any kind of communication. Among
handouts on Outward Bound and other nonprofits and peaceful careers, we
offered handouts containing questions students should ask recruiters
before making a decision about enlisting. They were not anti-military.
The 'shoving' incident actually constituted one of us lifting up a
belligerent official's name tag in order to identify him.
We were told, 'This is a military base; if you want to talk about peace, go to the church.'"

The article in the paper quoted a school district official as saying she "had no idea of what kind of group this was or what literature they'd be distributing." That is obviously false, but we figure that it is CYA.

Now what? Well, to me at least, the goal is to reach the kids and be sure they know all the options. Maybe it won't be very effective, but right now it's the best thing we can think of. It seems to me it would be best for us not to respond although the article was misleading. The more negative publicity we get on this topic, the harder it will be to get to the students. We don't need to deal with the military directly on this--most of the time we need to work with the schools. So I feel that it's best not to respond to the article or the harassment. But perhaps we need to file a complaint to cover ourselves legally.

Comments

[arethusa2.livejournal.com]

Who decided that the career fair would take place at the military base? If not the school district, who in the school district okayed it? What are their ties, if any, to the military or right wing? Who paid for the students to be bussed there? Do you have any video of the event? I know some of these questions have already come up, but I *hate* it when school districts sell or give access to students and teachers to businesses and organizations.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I think you've hit the nail on the head. The school district I'm almost certain made the decision to have the fair there. The district has just had a change in Superintendent and things have been shaken up a bit, so we outsiders may not ever be able to figure things out. However, the fact that our liaison OK'd us and then denied it shows that there's someone above her that scares her. So I suspect there's a lot of internal politics involved.

The kids were brought there in district buses, during school hours, so clearly had no choice.

But I"m with you--this is pretty much the same kind of thing as letting Pizza Hut operate the cafeteria. No, it's worse.

However, my take on the best policy for my group is that we need to stay focussed on our goal--getting information about options to the kids. We'll meet to discuss strategy next week, but I think we could lose access everywhere by getting in a fight with the district. What I"m hoping is that some parents independently of us will take it on, but if they don't, then maybe it will be something we should do.

Best tactics and strategies in cases like this are hard to decide.

And sadly, no video or pics. That we know of--no doubt the military had cameras somewhere.

[arethusa2.livejournal.com]

Yes, the best thing to do is talk to some parents and see if they want to get involved. School districts are usually terrified of parents, who might make a fuss that will hurt an administrator's career.

What about an essay contest, with a small monetary prize? Not many schools would object to that, as long as it doesn't seem too partisan. What do the local churches do to get out the peace message? Can you talk with their religious students, either schools or CCE programs? It irks me that some churches will have anti-abortion rallies but won't have anti-war rallies. A dead baby is a dead baby, whether it's killed by abortion or a bomb. (I'm pro-choice, but don't mind using churches to get a job done.) They should be doing something, and applying guilt works very well on them. :)

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Essay contest is an excellent idea! I'll try to promote it.

There is one anti-abortion guy who stands across the street every week from our anti-war group--and he actually has signs opposing war, too. Amazing.

The churches and religious groups are good, too, I think. Especially black ones, since their response on King Day is what got me involved in the first place.

Thanks! Good ideas.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I really like the idea of trying other approaches on a different turf.

Your group's ideas are far too important to get shut out.

This appalls me: "'This is a military base; if you want to talk about peace, go to the church.'"

Surely peace is what everyone wants--even the military.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I teach a lot of military people and so very many of them are very saddened by this war, and all wars. Also, many of the people in the group I work with are vets, and their war experience is what makes them angry about politicians who don't seem to care about young people's lives.

I think this was a difficult place to start, and hope we'll have better success in other places.