Dear Tim,
Millions of students around the country are returning to school this month.
But now there’s a new R in addition to the three old ones: Recruitment. By law, schools must give recruiters access to students, and the military often targets teens from poor neighborhoods young people who may not know what their alternatives are.
The conscientious objectors who founded the American Friends Service Committee during World War I believed there were peaceful, honorable alternatives to military service. We still believe that today.
That’s why I’m eager this month to share stories about our work to broaden the dialogue in schools across the country to include peace.
With violence in Afghanistan escalating and military leaders calling for more troops, our peace work with teenagers has gained renewed importance. We’ve had victories in Georgia and North Carolina and have brought together teens from many cities to learn how to refute recruiters’ claims and share the truth about military service with their peers.
Perhaps William Penn said it best: “Force may make hypocrites, but it can never make converts.” This month, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating our victories over military might.
Peace, Mary Ellen McNish,
General Secretary,
American Friends Service Committee
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment