This is a moral/societal issue that I have to wrestle with on an all too regular basis. Some background.
I am a teacher in an alternative public high school. This is a school where many local districts send their most difficult students We have a wonderful caring faculty that busts their collective ass to get these kids through high school. We feed them. Counsel them. Provide them with consistency. Love them. Console them. Provide them with structure and discipline. Celebrate with them. And lots more that I can't put into words right now.
Our students frequently have difficult home lives. Many are unwed parents (fortunately, there is a child care training program in our Vo-Tec division that allows the Mommies to spend lots of time with their babies during thier school day.)
Anyhow, today I walked past the guidance office and I saw a Marine recruiter talking to one of my students. He was showing her glossing pictures of the places she could visit. It was a full court press that lasted over an hour.
My first thought was outrage. this child has a one-year-old baby girl. She has no business thinking about enlisting. And that recruiter has no freaking business trying to take her away from her child.
My second thought was: Hey! I've got some other glossy pictures that I could show her. A plane full of coffins. A small screaming child covered with the blood of her parents. A mangeled US soldier in agony.
She remained closeted with the recruiter until the school day was over. I was attending our daily de-briefing, and didn't see her before she left.
I so want to take her aside tomorrow and try to level the playing field. I talked to a couple of other teachers who agreed with me. Others thought that I should leave it be. I can be a fairly subtle person when necessary, so I'm thinking of doing a bit of stealth educating. But my question to you all is: What would you do in this circumstance?
Any constructive comments would be greatly appreciated.