 October 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
A Student Visits JROTC
Hannah Zwirner is a student at High Mowing
School. She researched and wrote this article during her internship
at Peacework. I started this project not knowing very much about Junior Reserve Officer Training Core (JROTC) and not trusting that it had good intentions. Taking people at such a vulnerable and impressionable age and teaching them military history and how to march with rifles seemed like a crime. Coming from a Quaker family the military was always a bad institution of an even worse government and the idea of joining never crossed my mind. When I began doing research prior to my school visits at first I was interested in whether this was just a recruiting pro-gram set up in poor minority high schools to try and persuade more young men and women to join the armed services. Over the course of three days I spent ten hours with JROTC cadets at Methuen High School, East Boston High School, and English High School in Jamaica Plain (all public schools in the Greater Boston area). I watched drills and uniform inspection; sat in on a first-year military history class; and got opinions about the program from almost 200 high school students currently enrolled. I was able to interview about 30 of these students in an attempt to find out some of their background, other things that they do, what they wanted to get out of the experience, and whether or not they were thinking of joining the military. I, as a Quaker, do not support the military, but it was easy for me to see how a program like JROTC could be tempting. It is even slightly tempting for me. You are offered more structure and discipline, you get to learn leadership skills, and you get a visible recognition, in the form of ribbons and ropes, of your achievements in the program. But I still didn't feel okay with the idea that the military has access to high school students during the day, something that no other program has. Why should this program be the only option for students looking for more discipline, structure, and leadership skills? How do I, as a rather privileged member of society, begin to look at this JROTC program? I am from a family that takes the idea of high school and college graduation for granted. I sat with students in the JROTC supply room at East Boston High School in a silent moment of reflection. I had just asked these students what being in JROTC meant to them. Some answered quickly, eager to convince me that this was a good program as though they could sense that I was not thoroughly sold by the idea. Others were not quite as eager and preferred to simply nod in agreement with the opinions of the more talkative cadets. Most students loved the program and thought that it was a great experience for students to have. Many had joined at first to avoid taking gym class, but as their time in the program progressed they became very fond of the activities, the cadet community, and their leaders. Many of the students I was talking to planned on being the first high school graduates in their family. How would I look at this program if I was going to be the first kid to graduate in my family and if I had no guarantee of a college education? These kids see this program as their opportunity in the world. Many of them say they plan on going to college but many have also given thought to a military career. Do they hope that if they serve the community they are in, the community will serve them? It became very obvious almost immediately that the officers really love their jobs. The officers that I met simply want to see their students in a cap and gown and heading off to make themselves a decent life in this country. There are no statistics though, to prove that participation in JROTC programs result in a higher number of high school graduates. Also JROTC won't accept you into the program if you have a GPA below 2.0, so this program isn't even getting to the students most at risk for dropping out of high school. Did these kids intend to just learn more about the military, maybe miss gym class, and happen to find something important to them? If we really care about the children in this country then why do our children have to join a military program to get the support, both educationally and emotionally, that they need? 
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