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