Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: UK Teachers reject 'Army propaganda'

UK Teachers reject 'Army propaganda'
By Hannah Goff
BBC News, at the NUT Conference in Manchester
Teachers have voted to oppose military recruitment activities in
schools if they employ "misleading propaganda".
Young people must be given a true picture of Army life, not a
"marketised version", the National Union of Teachers conference
heard.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) denies actively recruiting in schools
but says it does visit to raise awareness when invited in by head
teachers.
Some teachers complain the Army uses sophisticated methods of
recruitment.
Paul McGarr, a teacher from east London, said only when recruiting
materials gave a true picture of war would he welcome them into his
school.
'Shoot and possibly torture'
HAVE YOUR SAY
If secondary school pupils do not have a clear idea about the futility
and horrors of war then teachers are failing
Henry, Bristol
Send us your commentsThese would have to say: "Join the Army and we
will send you to carry out the imperialist occupation of other
people's countries," Mr McGarr said.
"Join the Army and we will send you to bomb, shoot and possibly
torture fellow human beings in other countries.
"Join the Army and we will send you probably poorly equipped into
situations where people will try to shoot or kill you because you are
occupying other people's countries.
"Join the Army, and if you survive and come home, possibly injured or
mentally damaged, you and your family will be shabbily treated."
Delegate from Lambeth, south London, Chris Kelly, said he was offered
free teaching materials, which he only later discovered were from the
MoD.
"We must also ask ourselves why the MoD are in there influencing the
way our students view the Army in the 21st Century.
"They find it difficult to recruit into the armed forces and are
trying to encouraging them to join up," he said.
Decision
Executive member Martin Reed said young people should have the means
to make an informed choice when deciding whether or not to sign up for
an Army career.
He gave the example of school careers service Connexions which warned
on its website that young people should not make this decision
lightly.
It warned that war could be dangerous and that there were humanitarian
casualties, he said.
Another teacher, Stefan Simms, from Ealing, west London, said those
that were recruited would "come back knowing the horrors of war, maybe
having committed the horrors of war."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "We do not recruit in
schools.
"The single-service schools teams visit about 1,000 schools a year
between them only at the invitation of the school - with the aim of
raising the general awareness of their armed forces in society, not to
recruit."
But some teachers argue these visits have a wider purpose.
'Patronising'
The NUT will now convene a summit of teachers, educationalists and
others to consider the issue of military recruitment in schools.
Teachers who opposed recruitment activities based on "misleading
propaganda" would be supported.
An ex-soldier, Terry, told BBC Radio Five Live that the union's
attitude was patronising to 16-year-olds.
"Now 16-year-olds are not kids - they know, they know their mind," he
said.
"If they are not sure what they want to do and they are just tinkering
with the idea of just going in the Army - nowadays they can go in the
Army, they go on a six-week camp and they find out what it's like.
"If its not for them, they have the choice to leave."


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