Through the last nine months the Peace and Justice Action Committee, “PJAC” has made an effort to provide awareness among high school students about the cons of joining the military, while providing alternatives to consider before enlisting. On May 12, 2016 “Truth in Recruitment” went out to John R. Rogers High School as a last effort to provide awareness before summer break. The three interns Cassandra, Monce, and Jessica handed out 30 fliers and had a few short conversations with intrigued high schoolers. The fliers consisted of providing information to high school students regarding “10 things to consider before enlisting.” As an intern at PJALS it was an eye opener to see that most of the students would ignore our presence and avoid grabbing a flier; yet, those 30 students who did grab a flier seemed to be reading the paper as they walked to their destination.
The last nine months working on “Truth in Recruitment” has made me reflect on how society has assimilated to military presence and they do not question the military presence inside the schools. I believe that PJAC should continue to create awareness not only in high school students but also with parents. Parents should be able to know that military recruiters are waiting for their son/ daughter to turn 18 years old in order to convince them to sign the enlistment contract. It’s time that our schools give equal access to both military recruiters and non-war organizations or completely deny their access to both.