story-type: ForcesWatch comment

Questions for general election candidates about the military and young people

Do you agree that the UK should raise its age of recruitment to 18 in line with the international human rights standards established by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child?

Key points

  • The UK is the only country in Europe to recruit 16 year olds into the armed forces.
  • Parliament’s Defence Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights have both requested that the Ministry of Defence conduct a review of the age of recruitment.
  • Child rights organisations, charities and churches have all condemned the UK policy of recruiting 16 and 17 year olds.
  • A 2014 poll found that 78% of respondents who expressed a view thought the minimum enlistment age for the Army should be 18 or above.
  • Research by ForcesWatch indicates that those who join the armed forces at the youngest age are more likely to experience mental health difficulties and to be at risk of injury or fatality.
  • Research by ForcesWatch, based on Ministry of Defence figures, indicates that that recruiting from age 16 is very cost-ineffective and a waste of tax payers money.
  • Other countries with armed forces of comparable size to the UK’s (as a proportion of population) do not find that recruiting from age 16 is operationally necessary.
… Read more

‘Alternative Provision with a Military Ethos’ receives more funding – our response

On 7 December 2014, Michael Gove’s successor as Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan made her support for the Military Ethos in Schools programme clear by pledging a further £4.8 million to eight ‘alternative provision with a military ethos’ schemes. This follows previous funding between 2012 and 2014 that amounted to £8.2 million. The Quakers have written a letter with their concerns about the new announcement to Nicky Morgan, which can be read here.

Below are our key initial concerns.

Background

On 7 December 2014, Michael Gove’s successor as Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan made her support for the Military Ethos in [English state] Schools programme clear by pledging a further £4.8 million to eight ‘alternative provision with a military ethos’ schemes. This follows previous funding for military ethos alternative provision projects between 2012 and 2014 that amounted to £8.2 million, and the recently-announced additional £8.7m for the Troops to Teachers scheme and £2.3m for new Combined Cadet Forces. Other military-style alternative provision also exists, such as the Lancashire County Council’s ex-Service Personnel Mentoring Programme, and Military Skills Centres and the UK Military School.

ForcesWatch have previously raised concerns over the government’s funding of alternative provision with a military ethos, noting that by targeting those children who are most disadvantaged within society, these militarised initiatives may restrict children’s options, even channelling them into the armed forces.… Read more

More military days in schools

This year over 550 schools around the country have had a Red, White and Blue Day on 11th October, which involves pupils raising money for three military charities by wearing red, white and blue clothing (the colours of the Union flag), or holding another fundraising event.

Whilst the military charities may be funding valuable services for armed forces families, the method of fundraising in schools is very questionable. Is this patriotic celebration of the armed forces, and trivialising of war (for example getting primary school students to pretend to be soldiers) appropriate within schools? Whilst the day is notionally about ‘what life is like for the thousands of Service children in the UK’, it looks more like just another opportunity for school children to be be won over with military hardware or have to listen to armed forces presentations ‘about service and life in the Armed Forces.’

Was there time for discussion or reflection on Red, White and Blue Day about the real effect of war on service children, as well as those serving, or wider issues such as the ethics of war? How do students from countries that have recently experienced – or are experiencing – conflict feel when war is trivialised or the focus reverts again to the Second World War, which has become a hollow symbol of Britishness, with much of the reality of it forgotten?… Read more

Military activity in UK schools

http://libr.org/isc/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Full-ISC-33.pdf

The encroachment of the UK military and ‘military ethos’ on the UK education system means that alternatives to war and peaceful ways of resolving conflict will be more difficult for young people to explore.

Young people – children – around the world encounter the military and military approaches in many different ways, from the presence of military personnel and hardware in public spaces; to military youth groups such as the cadets; Armed Forces advertisements online and on television; video games developed by or with the military; and military involvement in education. They are encouraged to see the military and military approaches as normal, necessary, often the best solution to problems/conflicts, and – crucially – to be supported, not questioned.

A recent book by War Resisters’ International book, Sowing Seeds: The Militarisation of Youth and How to Counter It (2013), shows – through articles, surveys, images, and quotes – how young people around the world are experiencing these encounters, and how this privileging and lack of balance can be challenged. One chapter focuses in part on the military’s presence and influence in Education, which is a primary way in which they recruit and imbue a sense of uncritical pride or admiration towards the Armed Forces among future adult citizens.… Read more

Launch of new film on the military and young people

On Thursday 26 June 2014, we launched our new short documentary film ‘Engage: the military and young people‘, at Friends House in London. A packed and diverse audience watched the film, which was very well-received. Ben Griffin, founder of Veterans for Peace UK, spoke on his experience joining the Army as a result of being in the cadets and his reasons for leaving during the invasion of Iraq; Sam Hepworth, staff member of Headliners (the youth journalists charity who made the film) and some of the young filmmakers spoke about their approach to researching and making the film; and Owen Everett, Education Campaign worker at ForcesWatch, outlined the concerns about the promotion of ‘military ethos’ and the cadets within education.

The lively discussion was testament to the film’s balance which provoked both those critical of the military’s ‘engagement’ with young people and those supportive of aspects of it. The film shows that many young people are critical of military activities in their schools and the motivations behind it. It also shows that, while participation in cadet activities may benefit some young people, it also makes them more likely to consider joining the armed forces. The film questions the agenda behind the ‘youth engagement’ policy and the reluctance of the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence to discuss it with young people themselves.… Read more

War and peace

Letter to The Times (see all signatories below)

On this day 100 years ago, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo in an action that led to the First World War. Unchecked militarism in Europe was also a major factor.

Today is also Armed Forces Day, one of the clearest indications of the re-militarisation of British society. Established in 2009 to increase public support for the forces, there are over 200 public events, many billed as ‘family fun days’. This week also saw Uniform to Work Day promoting the reserve forces and ‘Camo Day’ in schools.

Behind this PR offensive is a raft of policy that is embedding ‘public support’ for the military within our civilian institutions – from the promotion of ‘military ethos’ in schools, to the Armed Forces Community Covenant and Corporate Covenant that aim to enlist every local authority and major business to support the armed forces and aid recruitment.

Over 453 UK service personnel have died in Afghanistan; 34 were just 18 or 19 years old. Thousands more have to cope with long-term physical and mental problems. With so many military casualties – not to mention uncounted numbers of civilians deaths – and new security threats that waging war has created, surely it is time to reflect on the longer-term impact of our military culture and to ask what steps we might take to prevent war itself.… Read more

The creep of militarism into our civil institutions

 

This article was originally published on openDemocracy

Armed Forces Day represents a major shift in military-civil relations over the last six or seven years that has seen the embedding of the military in civilian institutions in a way never seen before. What will be the impact on how we, as a society, view and accept military activities and military approaches? How will the promotion of the military affect young people as the next generation of ‘future soldiers’?


Images: Wrexham Peace and Justice Forum

What national day is celebrated at the end of June in the UK? Many people may struggle to answer that as Armed Forces Day has only been established for 5 years but in 2014 there are over 200 public events “to Show Your Support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces.” For many, it will go unnoticed unless you happen to come across a local parade or military-themed ‘family fun day’ in your town or city centre, but Armed Forces Day represents a major shift in military-civil relations over the last 6 or 7 years that has seen the embedding of the military in civilian institutions in a way never seen before. What will be the impact on how we, as a society, view and accept military activities and military approaches?… Read more

Questioning military academies and free schools

This article was originally published on the Anti Academies Alliance website

This article explains what we mean by  ‘military academies’ and ‘military free schools’, and explores the concerns that they raise: the lack of evidence that they will raise attainment; that they can employ unqualified teachers; their limited accountability to the local community; the fact that they can set their own curriculum. Crucially, there are various agendas behind military academies and free schools, including providing employment for the growing number of veterans, and encouraging pupils to join the armed forces after they leave school. There is also unease about what military-style discipline would look like in a school environment.

The terms ‘Military Academies’ and ‘Military Free Schools’ have been bandied about since at least January 2012, but there is a lack of clarity as to what they actually mean. This article explains what military academies / free schools are (as well as what they could be), and explores the concerns that they raise: the lack of evidence that they will raise attainment; that they can employ unqualified teachers; their limited accountability to the local community (both during and after the consultation process); and the fact that they can set their own curriculum.… Read more

Defence Committee report challenges the MoD (again) to produce a ‘robust and thorough’ review of under 18 recruitment

The Defence Select Committee have today released their report of inquiry into the MoD’s Future Army 2020 plan. Amid the concerns about the strategy of increasing the proportion of reservists in relation to regular forces (read Defence Committee press release), the report calls on the MoD “to respond in detail to the argument that the Army could phase out the recruitment of minors without detriment to the Army 2020 plans”.

ForcesWatch, Child Soldiers International and the Peace Pledge Union all submitted evidence detailing the arguments for raising the age of recruitment to 18 in line with international standards. The UK is the only country in the EU to still recruit at 16 years. You can read the submissions here.

The Defence Committee report highlights our arguments that raising the age of recruitment will:

  • save approximately £94 million per year on training and recruitment
  • increase operational effectiveness, including improving the ratio of deployable personnel
  • have a positive effect on recruits’ education and long-term career prospects
  • reduce incidence of mental health problems amongst soldiers and veterans
  • ensure “the best interests of the child” are prioritised, in line with international legal obligations

Our recent research has shown that those who enlist below this age are at higher risk of injury in training, suicide, bullying, sexual harassment, mental illness, alcoholism, long-term unemployment, and violent offending than recruits who enlist as adults. 

… Read more

Militarisation in everyday life in the UK: a conference report

Many areas of society in the UK have seen a growing involvement and/or visibility of the military and military approaches in recent years – from schools, to local communities, to ‘militainment’ (military-themed films, TV programmes, video games etc).

This process of privileging and prioritising the military is often referred to as ‘militarisation’; Cynthia Enloe, one of the foremost thinkers on the subject, states that “To become militarised is to adopt militaristic values and priorities as one’s own, to see military solutions as particularly effective, to see the world as a dangerous place best approached with militaristic attitudes.”

In response to the recent developments in the UK, there has been an increase in critical academic studies, media coverage, and work by campaigning organisations and others on these issues. On 19 October 2013, around 70 academics, activists, campaigners, and writers came together in London at the Militarisation in Everyday Life in the UK conference organised by ForcesWatch.

The main aim of the day was to allow academics and activists to share their work and ideas, through a series of plenary presentations and group discussions, and to develop ideas on how to raise public debate and encourage critical thinking on the issues.

In the introductory plenary, the conflict transformation consultant and writer Diana Francis pointed out that war – organised lethal violence on a mass scale – is a relatively recent development in human history, asserting that we can un-learn militarism, which is closely linked to dominating structures such as patriarchy.… Read more