This paper provides a discussion of the challenges and possibilities of conducting critical research on highly contested practices, such as militarism and military recruitment, in schools serving vulnerable and nondominant communities. The discussion is grounded in data collected from a year-long qualitative case study of an urban school in…

Scholars have determined popular literature often contains propaganda imperatives (Berelson, 1952; Budd, 1967; Davis, 1942). Given the persuasive impact children's literature has upon the reader, children's literature containing propagandistic intent is a powerful force (Desai, 2014). This is especially true during times of war. Several studies…

Nationally, only half of Latino males graduate from high school (Contreras, 2011). Scholars are beginning to critically examine the various internal and external influences which contribute to low academic achievement for Latino males. This qualitative study uses a human ecological theory to examine how Latino male high school students with high…

This article adds to the small collection of art education studies on video games (Parks, 2008; Patton, 2013; Sweeny, 2010) by critically examining the association between violent video games, the U.S. military, and mental disability--from a critical disability studies perspective. Derby overviews the controversies surrounding violent video games…

For more than forty years, parents, teachers, veterans, and community activists have engaged in grassroots resistance to the military's presence in schools. The historical study of campaigns against militarism in schools remains underdeveloped. This is a glaring omission, given the breadth and history of this activism. Militarism in the…

This article provides documentation of the current military presence in U.S. secondary schools and groups that have mobilized to monitor or oppose this presence. This documentation provides the background for a narrative of a multiple-year effort the author engaged in to promote academic freedom for teachers and students and to provide high school…

The central purpose of this study was to determine if teaching the subject matter of diversity or social psychology to military sponsored college students would change the level of sensitivity (behavior and attitude) to diversity as measured by an instrument called The Inventory of Cross Cultural Sensitivity developed by Kenneth Cushner (1986).…

In this semi-autobiographical short story, Malcolm Reed writes about English teachers' responsibilities towards the pupils they teach. This work grew from his insight that the armed forces have traditionally recruited from areas of high unemployment and low literacy. Reed taught for many years in an all-boys, secondary school in one of London's…

This guide was written to help school and local education agency staff better understand and apply the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law that protects privacy interests of parents and students in student education records. The Forum has developed full reports on student (and staff ) privacy guidance, but a shorter…

Many American high school students from lower socio-economic backgrounds see military service as a vehicle for advancement. Various branches of the Armed Forces have consistently provided underprivileged youths enlisting in the military with a means to escape poverty. Generous benefits, adequate pay, college tuition, and specialized training in…

In recent years, military recruitment has failed, with rare exceptions, to meet its quotas. The nations's high schools have thus become battlefields for the hearts and minds of young people as recruiters dangle gifts and promises of future benefits before teenagers in an effort to fill the ranks of an all-volunteer military. In this article, the…

In the next decade, the military will rely on aggressive marketing to battle the nation's businesses as both search for the best entry-level employees. (Author)

Local high schools sending the names and phone numbers of all juniors and seniors to United States military recruiters is more than a back-door assault on student privacy. This may have life-or-death consequences for unwitting kids who are contacted by these recruiters. This student information give-away was mandated in a little-known provision of…

The purpose of the study is to broaden the enlisted recruiting market, especially for high school graduates and describe measures to complete or expedite actions initiated by ASD (M and RA) (Assistant Secretary of Defense Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and the military services and to take additional actions to enhance recruiting. (Author)

This article deals with Army recruitment in high schools. Students get to ask questions and hear stories about life In the Army from a soldier of the year, officers, and recruiters. Some brave students will even get a physical taste of life in the Army. According to an Army officer, the primary reason why recruiters go on high school campuses is…