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War marketed as family entertainment

26/06/2015

Letter to The Independent (see all signatories  below).

Welsh Gov told to review the way British military recruits in Welsh schools

23/06/2015

The Welsh Government has been told to review of the way the British Armed Forces are allowed to recruit in Welsh schools.

War veterans call for rethink on recruitment of 16-year-olds

Former professionals condemn recruitment of teenagers by ‘pushing the notion of a noble military career to children’.

Critical scrutiny of military ethos initiatives continues

10/06/2015

An example of how critical scrutiny of the Military Ethos in Schools programme is being sustained from people outside of ForcesWatch, comes from an Institute of Education conference in February 2015, where Victoria Basham, senior lecturer in Politics at Exeter University, gave a critical overview of the Department for Education’s Military Ethos in Schools programme. Her talk was filmed, and can be viewed online here…

The Army offer ‘Soldiers to Schools’ as First World War Centenary ‘support’

In addition to placing a soldier on each school coach visiting the First World War battlefields (as part of the government’s flagship  Centenary initiative to have at least two students from every school in the country visit them), the Army have launched their own First World War teaching resources for schools, and are offering to send soldiers to schools to ‘support teaching activities’.

A former cadet’s experience of the Combined Cadet Forces

09/06/2015

Looking back on being part of a school-based cadet unit, the author reflects that, despite the fun and experience to be gained, the benefits could be achieved with non-military activities which would not present a dangerous and risk-laden career as an enjoyable and exciting activity or expose young people to an environment where bullying and hazing are normalised.

Why recent developments in character education indicate there’s no need for a military ethos

The Department for Education has given out its £3.5 million ‘Character Awards’ and its £3.5 million Character Education grants, both championed by Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan, to 27 schools and youth organisations in England, and 14 youth projects, respectively.  Despite the DfE’s heralding of ‘military ethos‘ as an  excellent means of developing character, none of those awarded mention military-style activities in their descriptions (see here and here).

‘Targeted messaging’ in schools about armed forces careers not for the ‘well-being’ of students

05/06/2015

Schools Week are today reporting that the Ministry of Defence requested access to the National Pupil Database. The request was for the most sensitive pupil data. The request was refused by the Department for Education. The evidence is in that the armed forces already visit schools for recruitment purposes so we ask why, if 'targeted messaging' in schools about armed forces careers is not for the 'well-being' of students, are they allowed to visit schools with their recruitment agenda at all?

‘Targeted messaging’ in schools about armed forces careers not for the ‘well-being’ of students

Schools Week today report that the Ministry of Defence requested access to the National Pupil Database. The request was for the most sensitive pupil data and was refused by the Department for Education. There is substantial evidence that the armed forces already engage with schools for recruitment purposes so we ask why, if ‘targeted messaging’ in schools about armed forces careers is not for the ‘well-being’ of students, are they allowed to visit schools – and run military activities such as cadets in them – at all?

Arms companies are making money by taking over UK schools

03/06/2015

Europe’s largest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, has applied to sponsor the failing Furness Academy. The reason is profit.

The recruitment agenda behind the UK armed forces’ ‘engagement’ with students in schools and colleges

31/05/2015

This briefing is a compilation of evidence that contradicts the MoD and armed forces’ claims that they don’t recruit in schools and that ‘engaging’ with students does not have a recruitment purpose.

Celebrate or commemorate? The Department for Education and VE Day

07/05/2015

The DfE’s recent communication to schools about the 70th anniversary of VE Day on 8 May suggests that schools ‘will want to celebrate and commemorate’ the event. This is the third set of learning materials promoted by the DfE within the past year around military issues. Do ‘celebrations’ around remembrance events inevitably drown out the more cautious messages about the price of victory?

Questions for general election candidates about the military and young people

22/04/2015

Here we provide two sample questions that you can ask candidates as well as key points and further sources of information. You can find your candidates contact details using https://yournextmp.com/. Let us know if you get any responses!

UK’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights

27/03/2015

In advance of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s consideration of how the UK complies with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (during autumn 2015), the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has published a short report outlining areas of concern. The report states:

Again, we hope that our successor committee will have an opportunity to scrutinise the issue of children serving in the armed forces in the light of the UN Committee’s concluding ovservations which will be delivered in 2016.