Cross-posted from Blue Commonwealth
Two years ago, when my grandsons were 7 and almost 9, I provided day care for a few weeks. One day I took them to a kids’ movie. We got going a bit late and the older one was worried we wouldn’t get there in time. "Don’t worry," I said, "they play lots of previews." "I’ll drive safely and we’ll still get there on time." The almost nine-year-old was still worried. But he knew a short cut. For only a second, I hesitated. And then, I thought, of course, he watches every street we drive and knows even subtle changes in routing. Sometimes he even warns "you’re going the wrong way" when Mom tries a new route to avoid traffic. Backseat driving began at age 4! In short, he pays attention way beyond his years.
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I let him tell me a back-road way and we arrived early. As we bought tickets, the cashier asked, "What is your zip code?" I gave my daughter’s zip and thought (I wonder what kind of commercials we’re going to get?) Even my cynical mind didn’t guess what we were about to see. And, even for kids wise beyond their years, it was to be a handful. Navigating this new terrain requires different skills altogether.
Marketing Ads Sell Military Life to Young Children
The commercials and the "first look" stuff started rolling. First, were the infomercials for investment firms (my daughter lives in a very nice zip code). Next came an ad from an auto maker. "They lied," said my seven-year-old grandson out loud. Interesting, I thought, how perceptive the younger one was (is) too. Then came an ad for the National Guard. These are little children and they are already being "recruited." The ad was entirely deceptive. Be a hero, it said. Help the home front. No mention that over half will serve in wars overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time it was the GW Bush presidency. The administration threatened additional wars—in Syria, Lebanon, Iran... Who knows where? My grandsons never mentioned the National guard ad deception. Who would think the National Guard would try to deceive children? It’s a trusted source. And more to the point, why market to small children anyway? It gives "inappropriate" new meaning. We watched the movie and went home.
Until that day I had not discussed politics with my grandchildren, except once when the older one asked whom I had voted for in 2004. I told him I had voted for John Kerry. I tried hard not to politicize my relationship with our grandchildren and, for a political animal, that’s pretty hard to do. But this day, I finally had to have a talk. "What was wrong with the ads you saw?" I asked. The 7-year old talked about the misleading info in the car commercial. Again, no mention of any other ad. "What about the National Guard ad," I asked. They shrugged. I told them that more than many, perhaps more than half, will likely serve in Iraq. The Guard is not just defending the "home front." In fact, both of them were aware that the Iraq war was based upon misleading information (and I hadn’t told them). Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. They had no "weapons of mass destruction." So war over there was not "defending the home front," I told them. I told them that defending our country is a good thing. But that young children were being misled in the ad. And that’s not a good thing. The ends do not justify the means.
Most kids in America grow up not just respecting the military, but perceiving members of it as heroes. Many of them are. But what is not heroic is the way some react to the persistent objectification of human beings. Increasingly, it is part of the culture. It happens as a side-effect of a culture of war, sometimes by design. But small children should be left out of this. They do not need, nor should they receive messages, commercials, games, training and more, which change forever who they are.
But the ad they saw that day are far from the only ad. There’s the blaring, metal-head scream from the National Guard ad "Warrior," featuring the blaringly militant, warmonger song of the same name by Kid Rock. If you haven’t seen it, you can see it here . This ad avoids the issue I had about not telling the truth about National Guard deployments to Iraq. But, except for a couple of quick-frames showing troops kicking a soccer ball to a young boy and holding a young girl at home), this video is pure hegemonic propaganda. And here’s the message, or part of it. You’ll have to google the lyrics because, due to copyright law, I can’t quote too much of it too you. Using words like
"So don't tell me who's wrong and right
When liberty starts slipping away
And if you ain't gonna fight
Get out of the way"
And...
"And they call me ready to deploy engage and destroy
Wherever you need me to be"
Never mind the crumbling infrastructure in background. Never mind lost lives on both sides. The millions displace by the war. "Or get out of the way," implicitly suggesting critics will be forced out of the way). The intense, screeching lyrics are dehumanizing, propagandistic, and stifling of dissent. Kids hearing this learn they should not question when a future Dick Cheney says "Watch what you say." At the end of the ad, kids (or grownups) are invited to download the song for free. You can go online and get ringtones. I am not kidding. There are other ads. Here’s David Sirota’s description:
There on the cinema's screen was a super-sleek plane flying over a moonscape while communicating with an orbiting satellite. In the next moment, a multicolored topographical map, orders being barked — and in my own mind, memories of "Call of Duty" graphics. And then, finally, two guys in front of a computer console, and the jarring punch line: "It's not science fiction; it's what we do every day," said the bold type, followed by a U.S. Air Force symbol.
And another ad, also described by David Sirota:
Before giving the audience a chance to digest the slogan, it was onto another montage, this one of helicopters and explosions with 1970s music playing in the background. A Steve McQueen-themed game preview, I thought. Then, though, the familiar kicker: "The drones fight terrorism and protect America, and in the process, they keep the front lines unmanned," said the voice-over, adding, "This isn't science fiction; this is life in the United States Navy."
The significance of war is not just trivialized, but also the consequences of it are. In this ad, it's all antiseptic. No one gets hurt! OF course, that's not true in the real world. But it goes far deeper than merely commercials directed a kids, though they are quite enough.
NCLB Enables Recruiters to Access Kids’ Private Information
As David Goodman explains here and here, a little known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act was slipped in by the infamous Republican Senator David Vitters. The provision allows military recruiters and the Pentagon access to personal information about school children. When it surfaced that even middle school kids were targeted, the practice was supposedly changed to limit recruiters to only 17 year olds. It is important to note that 17 year olds are not allowed to make any legal contract in most places, except to sign military recruitment papers. All of this can happen before parents even know what hit them. NCLB requires schools turn over Social Security numbers, birth dates, cell phone numbers, health records, behavior records, grades, test scores, etc. The Pentagon stores it as well. And that cell phone call your teen is getting might be a chat-up by your nearby military recruiter. The "birthers" and "deathers" think Obama wants to collect information on school kids. Look what already happened under George W. Bush!
The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery—In a School Near You
Some school districts (1,000 of them) require all students to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. In effect NCLB turned public schools into military training and testing facilities. During school time, many students are now required to take this test, regardless of whether their parents wish them to, or whether the kids themselves want to. In some places kids can be suspended for refusing to take the test. All the more to add to the JAMRS database. JAMRS (the Joint Advertising Market Research and Studies program, whose website indicates the database now holds 34 million names, is a giant database run by Equifax, the credit reporting giant. This unprecedented amassing of data before a child even comes of age pushes the bounds of decency, not to mention privacy. It also renders the protesters of Obama’s talk to schoolchildren more than hypocritical.
Providing "Free" Test Taking Prep: "March 2 Success" Program Purports to Be of Help to All College-seeking Students
Most students want to improve their test-taking ability. Enter the army to sponsor a site providing a website for standardized test prep. David Goodman tells us that, working with Princeton Review, Kaplan and other test taking companies, the site is designed to attract all kids who want to do better and standardized tests and improve their chances of getting into college. Not everyone can afford these test prep organizations on their own. And many people are suckers for free quizzes and tests. They are part and parcel of many internet sites, even Facebook. The kids, however, probably have little idea that the site is there for purposes not about college at all. Students presumably get better scores. The info goes to the military recruiter’s data base. There is little indication of what the kids are getting into at the site. You have to go down to the bottom of the site to read in small font. GoArmy.com. You can find it here.
This past week we learn that what the Pentagon efforts to warp the American mind goes far deeper. It drives home a problem so great that it has and will change forever the brains and minds our children. We are already a belligerent society, already more aggressive than our own good requires, already more ready to fly off into another war in another place. We’ve turned the world into our very own Roman Coliseum. But that’s not "good" enough. Let’s ramp it up, they think. They need recruits.
Luring kids to play violent video games
America’s Army. David Goodman also tells us of video games designed to turn our kids into killers. The first is "America’s Army." One-fourth of all males between the ages of 13 and 24 have played this game. The new version America’s Army 3 was released in June. Kids are 29% more likely to enlist after playing this game, according to the Army. It’s free online. I refuse to play it. Have at it if you are interested.
Halo3. Halo3 is a hit Xbox game, which has, according to Goodman, sold more copies than the Harry Potter series. Goodman says that the Army spent over a million dollars to sponsor this game, which has links to goarmy.com/ You can read more about the game here and here. We already know the effects of some of the sniper-type games. Children, including teenagers, should not play them. The fact that they do doesn’t make it right.
What kind of people we are shows all around us,
• in our willingness to see those in need as important and worthy,
• in the way we look at and deal with the poor,
• in how we look upon other countries,
• in whether we wage war only in the most extreme circumstances(not for expansionist reasons, not based upon deception). But most of all,
• in the way we view and treat children.
There has been much made about Barack Obama’s talk with school children benignly about studying hard, staying in school, being a good citizen, and doing something good for our country. Yet here we are with programs launched during the Bush administration, not just propagandizing our children and grandchildren, but coveting and ensnaring them in the war machine, by the Dept of Offense (not Defense), as it is in this case. Warping the minds of children, turning them into killers, is the most heinous act of all. It happens soon enough in young adults. They need more protection too. They need to be provided a non-military attorney just to navigate through everything they and pushed to sign. It’s the least we can do for our young men and women snatched too soon and carted off to be cannon fodder for the enrichment of military contractors, as they have been in Iraq. No freedom isn’t "free." But the war in Iraq has nothing to do with it. Continuing to lie to children about that is, well, despicable, making them want to do likewise, even more so.