PET(4) SAR 11
Petitions Committee
Consultation on petition P-04-432 Stop the Army Recruiting in Schools
Response from John Williams
Dear Sir or Madam,
I was delighted to read the petition you are considering on the
armed forces in schools.
I was a teacher for 35 years and now work as an adviser in
secondary schools in London.
For the reasons stated I am in complete sympathy with this
statement. I consider it completely wrong to use schools as a
recruitment ground for the armed forces. Often the guise used by
the armed services is to offer outdoor activities for
impressionable youngsters. Such activities could and should be
offered without links to the armed services. There are other
community services that could offer such e.g. the fire, police and
nursing services.
There are recruitment offices local towns and extensive media
advertisments. That is enough. Education is about developing a
discerning conscience. Once a child has left school he/she can make
an informed decision.
To take this petition and uphold it in practise would send a
courageous and powerful message to all schools in the UK.
Yours sincerely,
John Williams