Teens Frustrate Military Recruiter's ASVAB Scam

[Renew Deal]

With MySpace.com bulletins and a handful of homemade flyers, two teens have struck a blow against the American Warfare State, Lindale, Georgia Division.

On a Friday afternoon the 17th of November, 17-year-old high school seniors Robert Day and Samuel Parker decided to act after Day overheard some teachers at Pepperell High School saying that first thing Monday morning the school's juniors would be made to take the ASVAB military aptitude test.

Often administered under the guise of a career aptitude test, the ASVAB's purpose is to better equip the State to prey on young people tricked or pressured into taking the test. According to Debbie Hopper of Mothers Against the Draft, it is often given under the pretext of being a "career placement" test. (In some cases it has in fact been used that way, no doubt in an attempt to legitimize what many Americans regard as not legitimate: the use of government schools as military recruiting grounds.)
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http://www.antiwar.com/orig/horton.php?articleid=10055

[originalpckelly]

1. When the recruiters call, they don't say a thing about being from...

the military until they have all your information. All it says on the caller ID is the "US GOVERNMENT"!

You think, "Oh yay! I've won a government scholarship, why else would they be asking about college?"

And then they tell you what service they're with, and it is an intimidating experience. You cannot begin to understand the pressure that puts on you, I wouldn't bet if they've studied this and that's the reason why they do it. It's like this freaky mental game or something, and it really puts you off balance.

They are so nice, it's like they bomb you with "love," of course they want you to sign up and get yourself and others killed in a war with no meaning.

It is a very weird experience.

[mark11727]

4. I've been thinking what to throw at a recruiter when they finally call...

"I'm terribly sorry, but for the purposes of this conversation, everyone in this house is gay. Gay, gay, gay.

Even the dog.

Now fuck off." :evilgrin:

[Renew Deal]

8. You didn't ask

But I'm telling.

[TheMightyFavog]

22. And for added effect, hit on the recruiter as well.

That got the recruiters off my back in an instant back in high school.

Well, all except for the Marine Corps recruiter, for some reason he held on the longest, and he even called me back.

[Erechtheides]

28. that's so Monty Python...

"We're all dead butch. Except the marines."

[noamnety]

2. Other DU high school students

should take note of this, and act accordingly in your own schools.

[Raster]

3. In a country whose economy is WAR-BASED and fully half of its yearly

GNP is devoted to the Department of Defense, CHILDREN ARE RAW MATERIALS FOR THE WAR MACHINE. There is no way to sugarcoat the facts. The defense industries and their Congressional collaborators will stop at nothing to get their hands on your children.

[MountainLaurel]

26. Children are raw materials for the war machine.

Got it in one, Raster.

[Raster]

31. And if the truth were told, the war machine does not want peace. That

would cut into the war machine's profit margins. You and I may envision world peace. The war machine envisions constant war.

[Hav]

5. .

I'm surprised about those teachers or principal. Do they receive some funding or why would they support this so much?
Anyway, just another questionable tactic to recruit young people to die in a war.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Educators tend to be rule followers

It's really just as simple as that. I have been teaching nearly 3 decades and I am one of the few rebels I know in the business. I can't tell you how many times I hear "Why do you care?" or "What do you think you are going to accomplish by fighting _______ ?"

It is really very infuriating.

[nashville_brook]

6. omg -- these kids f'n rock! HALF the juniors REFUSED the test!

Despite the recruiter's interruption, Parker says that he, Day and their volunteers made sure every junior who may not have wanted to take the test had a chance to hear them explain its purpose and to understand that it was not mandatory.

They estimate that about half of the school's juniors refused to even leave their regular classes to report to the testing site in the school's cafeteria. Some of the teachers, apparently learning about this at the last minute like most everyone else, and confused as to the nature of the proceedings, insisted that their students at least go to the cafeteria even if they did not mean to cooperate with the military. Once they were there, the kids were informed that anyone who showed up in the cafeteria would be made to take the test.

big K and R for the courage and passion of youth!

[China_cat]

10. How can you make someone take a test they don't want to?

You sit there, don't pick up the pencil, read a book, listen to your ipod, put your head down and take a nap, masturbate, shoot spitwads, throw up, any one of millions of other things.

[nashville_brook]

35. i was given the military aptitude test in high school -- if i KNEW what it was

beforehand, i would have "easter-egged" it. but i was led to believe it was as important as the PSAT. thank god i have the spatial intelligence of a piece of toast. it was the only test i scored below the 90th percentile in.

i was in high school 1980-84. prolly took it in 83 or 84. there was no war. no homeland security bullshit. it was just thrown in with the rest of the bullshit standardized tests we had to take during junior and senior year. it got me out of class for a few hours, so i didn't care.

if i had KNOWN it was for the military i would have gone apeshit.

[rpannier]

11. I don't want to dance on your euphoria, but I'd be curious as to how many of those who refused to

take the test still support scrub and the war. They just don't want to go themselves.
I'd be willing to bet at least half of those who refused to take the test did so because they don't want to go themselves, but have no problem sending someone else.

[tavalon]

13. Who cares why they didn't want to take the test

They shouldn't be coerced in this way. It's sneaky, underhanded and dangerous. And those kids fought back. No need to harsh the euphoria.

[nashville_brook]

34. you have to start SOMEWHERE and isn't that what HIGH SCHOOL is all about?

it's the first step. maybe it's the first time they've FELT the war personally. amen to that, i say.

i think this is what Rangel is after in his pro-draft rhetoric. FEEL THIS SHIT, PERSONALLY, PEOPLE. feel it as personally as the Iraqi's who bear the brunt.

hell fucking no, they don't want to go, THEMSELVES. that's called *empathy.* we don't all come by it naturally. some people need a bigger reason. they need a threat of personal involvement. otherwise they think that as long as they don't get drunk and sign-up on a dare, that they are clear. not. their. problem.

empathy is a spirtually evolved position. something you work hard to maintain. i don't expect high school kids to have this built-in. they need a reason to feel it.

[Donnachaidh]

7. Those teachers should be FIRED -- NO Pension, no recourse

kick them to the curb.

[LWolf]

14. WHAT teachers should be fired?

An adminstration scheduling a wide-scale military aptitude test has nothing to do with the teachers. They don't choose the test, they don't decide that kids need to take it, and they don't administer it. Why the fuck should THEY be fired?

According to the article, the school board called the test "customary," not mandatory. Soldiers told kids that no scores would count if anyone ripped up their test. A counselor was "embarrassed." And the principal was dishonest. The only thing it says about the teachers is that some of them, who were not informed about the situation ahead of time, sent their kids to the cafeteria even if they weren't going to take the test. Apparently, teachers should be fired for following their boss' direction. :eyes:

Or is this just another knee-jerk "bash/blame the teachers" response?

[WinkyDink]

17. You're joking, right? Because if you're not, you don't know anything

about having a job, let alone one in public education (from which I'm retired).

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. Why?

They were just doing as they were told. How willing are YOU to risk going against what your boss tells you to do?

[Donkeykick]

9. Want to do something about this?

May I suggest if they didn't identify themselves as being from the military--and it's branch--than not only should concerned parents talk to the Principle, but maybe to their lawmakers as well. Think about it.

I feel that those youngsters and their parents have every right to know who they're dealing with.

[Richard Steele]

12. It doesn't take many wrenches tossed into the gears to stop a machine. K&R

[DocSavage]

15. Charlie Rangle

will fix this when he gets the draft re-instated. Everyone gets to take it then. No problems.

[trumad]

16. Nice try

little sly there aren't ya?

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Yes isn't it amazing how few seem to understand what Rangle is really

trying to do? LOL

[DocSavage]

23. Hey, do a search

on this board and find the threads supporting this idea. I know what he is doing, an yeah, it was a little sly. But how do you want it? Supporting a call for the draft, or condoning an ASVAB test?

[Renew Deal]

37. One thing has nothing to do with the other.

But you already knew that.

[shadowknows69]

21. When I was in school we couldn't be forced to take these

it was offered but we had to go to a military recruitment site to take it on our own time. The schools are lining kids up to die with this bullshit pandering of the military industrial complex.

[Orsino]

24. There's a bluff that should have been called.

"The soldiers told the students that if anyone ripped up their test, then all the tests, including those belonging to the one-third or so of the kids who actually wanted to take it and receive their scores, would be thrown out."

Really, Sergeant? Perhaps you'd like me to inform your station commander that you've threatened to destroy government documents? Are you really so close to your monthly quota that you can afford to turn away willing potential recruits, or has desperation simply turned you into a liar? Did you forget that these students have no UCMJ obligations yet, or are you so brainwashed by the military that you assume threats of mass punishment will work on anyone?

[MountainLaurel]

25. Good work on the kids' part, but

fuck those administrators and counselors and teachers who tried to force them to take the test and to shame them for "embarrasing" the principal. Don't those adults realize these kids' LIVES are at stake.

[NancyG]

27. I'm surprised at least one kid didn't hold the test above her head

and slowly rrriiiippppp it.

I would have. 'Course I come from The Days of Rage.

[SoyCat]

32. That would have been me, as well! Way back in '89 I was constantly

bothered by a Marine recruiter because they were pushing for more female science majors to join, I guess. I had a grand time bitching him out in front of as many people as possible. When the ass would call me at home, I would either slam the phone down really hard or I would bang on a saucepan with a metal spoon. He finally got the message and left me alone.

[Miss Chybil]

29. I spent nine years in the Army. My husband is retired Army. My son is

in Afghanistan, right now. We all took the ASVAB in high school and again when we went to the recruiter's office. (None of us enlisted right out of high school.) Here is my feeling on this subject:

If you don't want what the military has to sell, don't buy it. Nobody is shanghai-ing anybody into the military these days.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't buy it today, and my son is getting out next year. He will have served 10 years. I don't think anybody needs to be afraid of the test, but I don't believe anybody should be forced to take it, either.

[lies and propaganda]

30. when i took the asvab in 97, i filled in my bubbles

to read "Kurt" as Kurt Copbain had just died and thats kind of kid i was. Then two years later, im joining the AF having to take it again because i had no specialties as far sas 'Kurt' was converned ;)

[JNelson6563]

33. I've gotten the call

My daughter's a senior this year and sure enough, they called my house, wanting to talk with her. I told them she wasn't here (she wasn't) and that I understand the horrible pressure they are under to come up with their quota and all, that he'd be wasting time calling back. I let him know my daughter was very politically savvy and guaranteed she would not be nearly so pleasant about telling him "no". I was very pleasant and all but firm. I do feel sorry for the recruiters, know they're in a bad situation, but won't sacrifice either of my kids for cannon fodder.

He took my comments well and has never called back. I think they will be more persistent when my son is that age (he's 15 now). They will not make any more progress then though. I'll take that boy to my massive clan up in Canada in the blink of an eye.

Julie

[greiner3]

36. Not an attack on you;

However, modern recruiters are hand picked to be the best recruiters that they can be. They are the head of their unit or some sort and will try anything to stay where they are, because, while some may be uber-macho and say they WANT to go back, they all really want to stay WHERE THEY ARE.

Sociopaths are said to be the most pleasant and cheerful people you will ever meet, and smile the whole time they are drawing the blade across your throat and your blood is spraying out against the wall and onto the floor.

Finally, those Germans tried, sentenced and hanged at Nuremberg claimed only to be following orders too. Not to mention Me Lai where they too said they were just following orders...

A military is for defense or offense and nothing else. War sucks and only those willing to pay with their own lives need apply.