PET(4) SAR 04
Petitions Committee
Consultation on petition P-04-432 Stop the Army Recruiting in Schools
Response from Dr Kelvin Mason
Responding to this petition, which I wholeheartedly support:
I am deeply concerned about the exposure of schoolchildren who are
too young to join the armed forces being prematurely
recruited/groomed via so-called 'careers advice'. Any Armed Forces
recruitment should be limited to adults old enough to decide
whether to enlist or not. I am also concerned that there is no
constitutional check that ensures those targeted for recruitment
hear the other-side of the arguments on the use of coercive
violence, for example pacifist and humanitarian arguments. There is
a very particular ethical argument that must be presented and
understood in the case of recruitment to a career that exposes the
person recruited to the ultimate questions of human morality,
the potential sacrifice and/or taking of human
life.
Dr Kelvin Mason
Cardiff School of Planning and Geography
Cardiff University