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Schools

The flip side of recruiting

An antiwar group will visit schools to tell students about peaceful alternatives to military service.

By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2007

Less than a month after Pinellas County school officials gave the all clear, a local antiwar group is poised to present high school students with career alternatives to military service.

Members of Veterans for Peace Tampa Bay will begin visiting schools as early as next week, said spokeswoman Linda Hubner.

"Our message to high school students is that there are peaceful ways of serving their country," said Hubner, a 57-year-old mother of six. "We want them to know there are pros and cons to many different careers and that they do have alternatives."

Hubner and a dozen other Veterans for Peace members attended two hours of training last week led by Allan Taylor, a retired lawyer from Delray Beach. Taylor, 67, has been talking to Palm Beach County students about alternatives to the military for almost three years with a group called the Truth Project.

"It's important to go in armed with the facts," Taylor said. "Remember, you're there to educate students. That's all you're interested in."

The first place they hope to visit is Dixie Hollins High, a school with a large JROTC program.

Pinellas County is among many districts nationwide that have crafted an "access to students" policy as more groups fight for time with students. One reason is a section of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires public high schools to give military recruiters the same access to students as colleges and businesses.

The act also provides military recruiters with student records, including phone numbers and addresses. Districts that refuse to turn over the information can lose millions in federal aid.

The School Board approved the local access policy in August, but groups such as Veterans for Peace actually have had the right to speak to students about alternatives to the military for years, School Board attorney Jim Robinson said.

A 1989 court ruling established that individuals or groups wishing to present career alternatives to the military must have the same access to students as military recruiters, he said.

The district policy also affirms the right of individuals or groups to present students with "bona fide negative aspects" of military life, Robinson said.

That means Veterans for Peace members can use facts to point out to students that they can't quit if they don't like the military and that they may not get the duty station discussed at the time of enlistment.

One thing they will not be permitted to do, Robinson said, is denigrate the military.

Longtime Veterans for Peace member and Korean War veteran Dwight Lawton, 76, says that's not part of the group's agenda.

In fact, Lawton said, he and school officials agreed to discard a piece of literature that antiwar groups routinely bring into schools. The pamphlet depicts a skeleton dressed in an officer's uniform.

"We're not going to get into political partisanship," Lawton said. "We will not allow individuals to go into the schools with us who cannot abide by that."

Instead, he said, the group will introduce students to careers in nursing and public safety as well as postsecondary opportunities at the Pinellas Technical Education Center and St. Petersburg College.

He and Hubner hope to form an alliance with guidance counselors, who are outnumbered by Pinellas students 450-1. The group wants to fill in the gaps in a student's access to career information, Hubner said.

"Students are making life decisions about careers," she said. "They need to be making the most informed choices that they can."

Fast facts

Other job options

Here are some examples of "careers in peacemaking and social change" for which Veterans for Peace plans to provide information:

Artist

Community organizer

Economist

Health professional

Job counselor

Journalist

Legal professional

Lobbyist

Mediator

Microbiologist

Political canvasser

Recycler

Solar installer

Teacher

Union organizer

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 21:44:08]