| Questioning JROTC
Why Question the Military's JROTC Program?
JROTC Doesn't Deliver: Alternatives Do!
JROTC Wastes Scarce School Funds
JROTC Forces Loss of Local Control
JROTC Textbooks are Biased
JROTC is a Recruiting Program for Dead-End Military Jobs
Teach Peace Not War
Military Out of Our Schools
Before You Enlist, Find Out the Facts
Donate to CCCO
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter:
Objector Alerts
objector-alerts archive |
JROTC Doesn't Deliver -- But We Can!
Teamwork, self-esteem, an opportunity to build a future free from violence: we all want these for our young people. But the Pentagon's version of "youth development" via the JROTC program- marching, drilling, a militaristic version of history and covert recruiting for dead-end military jobs - is not the answer. There are programs both inside and outside schools that can offer our students a real chance.
Let's look at some of the goals cited by JROTC supporters:
Teamwork, Leadership and Discipline
JROTC's version of "disciplined teamwork" is mindless drill, with the explicit intent of training a young person to follow orders without thinking. Programs like those below have proven track records in developing youth leaders with the ability to think critically and work together toward a common goal.
- YouthBuild USA is a national program in which at-risk youth are trained in construction skills and work together to build affordable housing, exercise leadership skills and further their education.
- Ropes courses such as Mobile Team Challenge, a new tool for team-building, goal-setting and problem solving, are already being used in dropout prevention programs around the country.
- Outdoor education. The biggest national program is Outward Bound: some local programs include Down to Earth, in upstate New York, and Trailmaster, in northern New Hampshire. In each, teams of young people learn survival skills and respect for the environment by traveling to wilderness areas.
- Curricula for leadership. Seasoned educators and business leaders have developed courses to develop young leaders. In fact, the curricula used by JROTC itself, such as Edge Learning Institute's program, can be purchased by school districts at a fraction of the cost of JROTC - and without having young people carry weapons.
Preparing for the Future
JROTC promotes military enlistment with misleading information about scholarships and careers. In fact, very few JROTC cadets get ROTC scholarships; only a third of recruits get a penny from the military's own GI Bill; and most military job skills aren't transferable to civilian life. By contrast:
- The School-to-Work Initiative is a federal program that provides seed money to communities to promote innovative collaborations among schools, private employers, community groups, and others -- combining hands-on experience in the work world with a renewed focus on academic achievement.
- Upward Bound is a federal program that helps students with exceptional need improve their chances of getting into college,
through tutoring, mentoring, and financial aid counseling.
- Nurturing young artists is often underestimated by school districts. Arts programs have a national reputation for turning young lives around, including mural projects in Los Angeles; the Dance Theater of Harlem; and artist Tim Rollins' K.O.S. (Kids of Survival) in the South Bronx, whose artwork has toured the nation. On an individual, local level, young lives are often turned around by learning to excel in school band, orchestra, dance class or art workshops. Yet arts programs are often the ones most threatened by school budget cuts, even as JROTC drains school budgets.
- Internship and Mentorship programs can be part of School-to-Work, promoted by your local city or county government or coordinated with local youth agencies. All of them can connect young people with role models, friends and opportunities for personal growth and achievement.
- Partnerships with community colleges offer work-based education and a window into higher education, opening up a world of possibility for students who might not have realized it was possible.
- Navigating the financial aid maze. School counselors can work with students, parents, and Upward Bound to identify funding sources, get through the bureaucracy, and put the pieces together to help students get the education they deserve. (See Financing College Without Joining the Military.)
Citizenship
JROTC tries to teach young people to "be better Americans" through a curriculum of militarized history and racist stereotypes. Young people can learn to serve our communities more fully through:
- Service learning. At Abraham Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, students work to improve their community, conduct environmental testing, and learn hard science in the process. In rural Alabama, students at Better Schools Building Better Communities are building and selling computers, publishing community newspapers, practicing aquaculture, starting a day care center, and building homes. In San Francisco, students in the Community Studies and Service Program are placed in nonprofit agencies citywide. What better way to acquire skills and learn how you can best serve your community?
- Urban gardening. Often coordinated through your county's BOCES (Bureau of Cooperative Extension Services), they're active in inner cities and smaller communities alike. Teams of inner-city youth are restoring blighted areas, performing a needed service and garnering job skills at the same time. Often, urban gardening programs are combined with multicultural education and tutoring, and motivate their young members to stay in school!
- Student internships in local government and advocacy groups. Social studies teachers can design such programs, or use curricula such as Active Citizenship Today (ACT). ACT is an innovative civic participation program for middle and high school students, which "breathes new life into the study of government and civics by challenging students to apply the knowledge and skills they are learning in the classroom to vital community problems."
Physical Challenge
In some JROTC programs the greatest physical challenge is presented by violent hazing; in others, in the marksmanship programs scored by the National Rifle Association. We can do better!
- Comprehensive physical education, challenging all students to their maximum level of fitness, can also save school districts funds, since PE teachers teach far more students in a day than the JROTC instructors that replace them.
- Team building that builds physical strength. YouthBuild, Outward Bound and Urban Gardening also challenge young people to push their physical limits, whether it's long days on the construction site or exploring the
wilderness!
Preventing Gang Violence
Those who think JROTC keeps young people away from gang violence need only look at the Ace of Spades, a JROTC-related gang involved in a 1990 murder in Long Beach, CA, and the many other examples of JROTC-related violence. But schools everywhere are finding positive ways to prevent school violence.
- Leadership, team-building and school-to-work programs mentioned above: many are specifically targeted for "at-risk" youth. YouthBuild, for example, has many former gang members now empowered as team leaders, with skills and a commitment to service; similar track records exist for Urban Gardening programs, Outward Bound, and alternative classrooms.
- Conflict resolution curricula. "More tussles are being confronted with humor. . . a more peaceful environment is being developed," said participants in a San Francisco program called Conflict Resolution: A Secondary School Curriculum There are many, many such programs (one in Massachusetts is called Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents), featuring training, peer mediation, and modeling of nonviolent solutions to conflict.
- learning from gang members. In early 1995, Barrios Unidos of Santa Cruz, California, called a national conference to coordinate the efforts of gang members and former gang members working to stop the violence. Barrios Unidos is one of dozens of groups all over the country, who are speaking in schools, forming work cooperatives, and helping negotiate gang truces in the inner city.
Preventing Students from Dropping Out
When pressed, JROTC leaders admit that they have no hard data to back up their claims that JROTC helps retain students. Many of the programs above, however, do. So do school-based initiatives such as the famed New Haven Schools Project, in which intensive collaborative efforts by administrators, parents, teachers, and support staff also decrease absenteeism and behavior problems.
Self-Esteem and Achievement
Skills development, job training, serving your community: all offer achievements more tangible, more long-lasting than the thrill of wearing a JROTC uniform or drilling with a rifle. So do schools that concentrate on making sure all students excel. Young people deserve far better than JROTC. They deserve a nonviolent future.
For more information
Many of the programs in this fact sheet aren't free --but funding is available. Federal funds include the School-to-Work Opportunities Act; the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act; the Job Training Partnership Act; the Family Support Act; and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In addition, private businesses and local nonprofits can combine efforts and funds. Additional funding sources are available from The Partnership Against Violence Network.
For violence prevention and conflict resolution programs for your school and ways to fund them, the Partnership Against Violence Net is an excellent place to find relevant models and the foundations and government programs with which to fund them. Additionally...
ACT for Citizenship Today Close Up Foundation, 44 Canal Center Plaza, Alexandria, VA 22314 , 1-800-336-5479 x640; Constitutional Rights Foundation, 601 South Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90005, 213-487-5590.
Association for Experiential Education (AEE) Home Page- "Experiential education is a process through which a learner constructs knowledge, skill, and value from direct experience." Includes adventure learning, school sponsored internships in the community, etc. http://www.princeton.edu/~rcurtis/aee.html
Corporation for National and Community Service 1201 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20515 , 202-606-5000, http://www.cns.gov
FYI Youth promotes youth development by linking young people directly to other young people, adults, and their communities. Contact: Greg Taylor, Academy for Educational Development, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20009, 202-884-8273, gtaylor@aed.org
National Association of Partners in Education (NAPE) 209 Madison Street, Suite 401, Alexandria, VA 22314, 703-836-4880.
National Association of Mediation in Education (NAME) c/o Mediation Project, Box 33635, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA 01003, 413-545-2462
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) c/o Donna M. Gollnick, 2101A North Rolfe Street, Arlington, VA 22209-1007, 202-416-6157, 202-296-6620 fax
National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC) 666 Eleventh Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001, 202-737-6272, emonascc@igc.apc.org.
National School-to-Work Learning and Information Center 400 Virginia Avenue, Room 210, Washington, DC 20024, 800-251-7236, stw-lc@ed.gov, http://www.stw.ed.gov
Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
ETR Associates
4 Carbonero Way
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
The National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE)
houses the National Resource Center for Experiential and Service Learning, which contains publications, research materials, program information, and other resources on experiential education and service-learning.
3509 Haworth Dr., Suite 207
Raleigh, NC 27609-7229
(919) 787-3263
www.nsee.org
Outdoor Network
has outdoor projects and environmental education.
PO Box 4129
Boulder, CO 80306
(303) 444-7117
fax (303) 442-7425
www.outdoornetwork.com
Outward Bound National Office
offers youth wilderness training that teaches survival skills and respect for the environment.
Route 9D, R2 Box 280
Garrison, NY 10524-9757
(800) 243-8520
Expeditionary Learning Division: 617-576-1260
www.outwardbound.org
Public/Private Ventures (P/PV)
has developed a wide variety of model curricula, tool kits, resource guides, and other resources useful to practitioners of service-learning programs.
One Commerce Square
2005 Market St.., Suite 900
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 557-4400
ppvg@dolphin.upenn.edu
Rethinking schools
1001 Keefe Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53212
(414) 964-9646 (414) 964-7220 fax
www.rethinkingschools.org
YouthBuild USA
is a national program in which at-risk youth are trained in construction skills and work together to build affordable housing, exercise leadership skills and further their education.
58 Day Street, Third Floor
West Somerville, MA 02144
(617) 623-9900
www.youthbuild.org
The Youth Volunteer Corps of America (YVCA)
is a national network of over 40 local affiliates that promote civic responsibility through structured volunteer service.
6310 Lamar Ave., Suite 125
Overland Park, KS 66202-4247
(913) 432 YVCA
www.yvca.org
|