Perceptions, however, do not. Teens have always been perceived as lazy and shiftless, desperately in need of some iron in their spine.
Some people even think that a rifle and a green uniform is the way to straighten that back.
Stick those kids in the army, they say, and they will be transformed into disciplined members of society who will grow up equipped to lead the nation. They would then graduate and could either spend one year serving America in an altruistic venture, such as working in an economically blighted area, or join the nation's armed forces for an 18 to 36 month stint. Admittedly today's teens are more rebellious and probably less prone to consider joining their nation's armed forces than generations past. And although the youth crime rate has generally fallen over the last few years, it is still much higher than rates from four or five decades ago, Hackworth's golden era. Although the idea of mandatory military service might seem attractive for those reasons, and a stint your author did in Canada's army reserves certainly helped him, there is one good reason for Americans to oppose any reinstatement of a draft, one that should have occurred to Hackworth.