Posted on 06/23/2003 10:04:17 AM PDT by FourPeas
MANEUVERS QUESTIONED: School policies differ on how military recruiters get students' names Monday, June 23, 2003 By Melissa Slager
It was on a whim that Steve Gunderson decided to seriously pursue enlistment in the Army Reserves after graduating this spring. The 17-year-old Kelloggsville High School graduate and a friend went to the recruiter's station near their school, "just messing around, I guess. But then it got serious -- and I was interested." As thousands of area high school teens such as Gunderson plan their futures, Uncle Sam's call for duty is beckoning from more than just a poster. New federal and state laws require high schools to release the names, addresses and phone numbers for juniors and seniors to military recruiters -- just as many schools already do for colleges -- unless parents or students choose to "opt out." But local districts, many of whom already gave those lists to military groups, have approached the rules in vastly different ways -- and many families have been unaware their personal information is in the hands of military recruiters. While some parents have no problem with the practice, others are upset. "That's an invasion of privacy," said Joan Kowal, a Godwin Heights High School mom. "I think it's a little scary that they're going to that extent to try and recruit people. ... Just like religion, the military is a really sensitive issue." Kowal's feisty 15-year-old daughter said she plans to take the opt-out option. "They're just trying to sell it and taking advantage of (teens). It's wrong," Ruby Kowal said. [emphasis mine] Most area districts say only a handful of students and parents opt out each year of having their contact information made publicly available. But that may be because few families know where the personal information goes. For example, districts such as Kenowa Hills -- which gave out no so-called "directory information" prior to the 2002 laws -- sent parents a letter last fall informing them of the military-related mandate and how to opt out. The result? A full quarter of the high school's 1,200 students were taken off the list. Meanwhile, parents at such high schools as East Grand Rapids and Comstock Park weren't given the chance. East complies with the military-related law, Principal Pat Cwayna said. But the district apparently did not notify parents of the change in a standard notice it sends parents each August. "Our request for consent is limited to school-related use," the letter reads. Ten students at the high school opted out. In Comstock Park, administrators say they forgot to include the standard notice in a newsletter the last two years. "I don't want my name and information going out to anybody. I guess I would have liked that choice," parent Brenda Lavengood said. "Nobody needs anymore phone solicitation. And I literally had two large shopping bags full of stuff from colleges (for senior son Mark)." Superintendent Roger Kropf said the district will be sure to put the notice in the newsletter this fall, as well as student handbooks as a backup. But Lavengood said those methods still might not cut it. Handbooks often don't come home and newsletters aren't always thoroughly read. "And I consider myself an involved parent." The American Civil Liberties Union is making a national push for schools to tweak common practice. "What we're suggesting to schools is they have an opt-in form rather than an opt-out form, so parents truly understand what kinds of information is being released," said Wendy Wagenheim, ACLU of Michigan spokeswoman. But some educators and parents say it's a non-issue. "I've never had a kid or parent fuss at me after getting a call from a recruiter," Saugatuck High School Principal Peter Mocini said. The educator's high school-age daughter received a call recently from the Army. "She told them 'no' and they didn't call anymore," Mocini said. "They're not like dealing with telemarketers. They're pretty good at taking no for an answer." Schools that release information say they do so with the kids' best interest in mind. "It's just providing opportunities to students, not knowing what their individual interest is -- if it's college or university, or the military," Rockford High School Principal Ryan Kelley said. "It's providing them with information so they can make good choices about their future." Military recruiters say the new laws simply make their jobs easier. They'd form a list of students to contact by other means if need be -- sifting through those yearbooks, for example, said George Noirot, a civilian who does marketing work for Michigan's U.S. Army Recruiting office. "One way or another it's going to happen," he said. Military groups deserve the same treatment as colleges and businesses, Noirot said. "If not, it's a slap in the face to those who have defended the country and given the rights for schools to do what they do." The Army targets its marketing efforts to 17- to 24-year-olds. In West Michigan, recruiting offices in greater Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon enlisted 463 men and women for fiscal year 2002, which runs October to September. Local Army recruits number 235 so far this fiscal year. For the U.S. Air Force, which targets up to age 28, local efforts netted 111 recruits from the Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Muskegon areas in 2002, and 56 so far this year. And a local recruiter said parents needn't fret. "We don't really recruit out of the high schools, contrary to popular belief. It's not like we're stealing them from their cribs," said Sgt. First Class Sean Davies, head of the U.S. Army recruiting station on Plainfield Avenue NE.
The Grand Rapids Press
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