Following in the footsteps of their older brethren, a group of students at Frederick's Thomas Johnson High School has been appearing at Frederick County Board of Education meetings recently to convince the Board to eliminate or greatly limit access to Frederick County high schools for military recruiters. In addition, the students have sent press releases to several news outlets and are circulating a petition demanding that the Board review it's policies.
The Frederick County Board of Education has refused to consider any changes to it's current policy of access for military recruiters.
The students are members of, or backed by several groups, including Thomas Johnson's Young Socialists Club, TJ's Rainbow Alliance, the Frederick Progressive Action Coalition (www.frederickpac.org but it's a dead URL) and the Frederick Green Party. These groups are the normal collection of leftists and protesters who despise the US military whenever the opportunity arises.
The Frederick News-Post has provided fairly balanced coverage of the story, and printed many letters from citizens on both sides of the issue.
Food for thought on this subject-
1. In a letter to the editor today, a TJ student, Jacob Brooks (a self identified member of the TJ Young Socialists Club), wrote that the recruiters have "unrestricted" and "unfettered" access to the schools. In yesterday's (2/8/06) issue, The News-Post reported on the agreement the board has with the schools and recruiters specifying when (once per marking period-during lunch hours) and where (in the cafeteria) that military recruiters may work on school properties. Mr. Brooks should get his facts straight.
2. The News-Post quoted TJ student Mark Gradoni as saying "This is not about our personal favor or disfavor for the military, this is about human rights and civil rights." As is also true in the Rumsfeld v. FAIR case, if the students are really concerned about discrimination against homosexuals in the military, their efforts would be better served by addressing the issue with their Congressional representatives, Congressman Bartlett and Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes. I suspect that the real objective of these students is to despise the military and work to make recruiting as difficult as possible. Just look at the motives of their supporting groups for clarity here.
As high school juniors, these students should have a better understanding of how a liberal, representative republic like the United States functions. Our military works for the civilian government, and the Congress, and President Clinton, created the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and law in 1993. Senators Sarbanes and Mikulski both voted yea. Congressman Bartlett voted nea. Perhaps a more appropriate issue to address with the Board of Education is the Frederick County school's failure to teach these students how the US Government works, and the proper method of petitioning Congress for action.
3. Why people continue to advocate for a political ideology that has proven a failure over and over during the past 100 years is beyond me.
4. This probably goes without saying, but isn't it a bit ironic for these students to be protesting the folks who secure the right to protest with their service? Tell Congress you don't like the policy. Tell the soldiers "thank you and have a nice day."
5. I have to admit that I agree with Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady when he said ‘‘I’ve heard all the comments I care to for one day. I don’t see many students come to these meetings ...but if this group represents the mainstream, I have concerns about our future.”
Here's my letter to the News-Post on this subject dated 2/9/06-
Misguided Youth
I continue to read with amusement the articles and letters regarding the student effort to stop or limit military recruiting at Frederick County high schools.
In today’s edition (2/9/06) TJ student Mark Gradoni says “This is not about our personal favor or disfavor for the military, this is about human rights and civil rights."
I have to wonder if he is sincere.
If Mr. Hayes and Mr. Gradoni are sincere about changing the policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” their protests should be directed to Congressman Bartlett and Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes. Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the law
(10 U. S. C. Sec. 654) that requires the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 1993. Both Maryland Senators voted for the law, Congressman Bartlett voted no.
Aside from the irony of protesting the very citizens that provide the right to protest, the students might want to develop a clear understanding of how a liberal, representative republic like the United States functions.
Last time I checked the military works for the civilian government of the United States, not the Frederick County School Board.
Well, they probably don’t teach that in social studies at TJ. Now, there’s an issue the Frederick County Board of Education should address.
Americans should respect our military, and appreciate the security our armed forces provide for all Americans everyday. Mike Cady is correct, teaching our kids anything else doesn't bode well for our future.
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