Concerns growing as Navy increases presence on high school campuses

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/11/concerns-growing-as-navy-increases-presence-on-high-school-campuses/



Concerns growing as Navy increases presence on high school campuses
By Agence France-Presse
Monday, November 11, 2013 19:20 EST

The first time Miguel Martinez visited a college campus, it was for a summer camp paid for by the US Navy, which is investing millions to improve public education and, ultimately, potential recruits.

While cash-strapped school districts are anxious for the help, critics contend that it comes at too high of a cost: the militarization of schools and the indoctrination of the young.

~snip~

Martinez, 16, attends Rickover Naval Academy, a public high school in Chicago whose 508 students wear uniforms and take classes in military history and naval science taught by retired naval officers.

~snip~

The city already had six public high schools run as military academies, which enroll nearly 2,800 students, the largest contingent in the nation.



unhappycamper comment: Twelve years of war has decimated another generation with PTSD, TBI, homelessness, drug addiction. and mutilation.

Republicans just cut food stamps for 900,000 veterans.

This camper recommends you council your children about the effects of a real war.

Playing "Call Of Duty" well does not prepare you for the horrors of combat.

[MADem]

1. It's a charter school. If you don't want your kid "indoctrinated" don't send them to that school.

The French, who wrote this piece, don't understand the difference between a charter school where there is some public funding, some private funding, adherence to a minimum curriculum approved by the state, a private agenda, and an admissions process, and a regular "public" school.

They're conflating, and that makes their entire POV crap. The school is named after Admiral Rickover, fachrissake. What do they THINK the focus is going to be? It's like sending your kid to Sacred Heart Academy and being shocked that it's a Catholic school.

[exboyfil]

3. In addition there is nothing wrong with

ROTC in High School. Some of my best memories in High School came from my Jr. ROTC unit. I have the greatest respect for my commanding officer who was a junior officer in Vietnam. I did not pursue a military career but some of my classmates did, and they made the country safer by their actions.

[MADem]

4. I'm old and that was never an option back in my day.

It doesn't seem like the worst thing in the world, though. A kid who needs structure and discipline and thrives in that sort of venue might like that kind of environment. Parents have options--it's not like "the authorities" are rounding up their children and forcing them into these programs.

The hype in the article is overblown. It's a "Hate the military" article, when the real "enemy" is the failure of governments to fully fund public schools, give teachers the tools and wages to be effective, and create safe learning environments, so parents don't feel a need to enroll their kids in these hybrid efforts.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. +1000 !!!!