11/02/07:Army Ads At School Events Draw Fire- Truth and Alternatives to Militarism in Education
Army Ads At School Events Draw Fire
The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A1
Friday, November 2, 2007
By PAT SCHNEIDER The Capital Times
It's just a logo and a phone number, says Arlene Silveira, president of the Madison School Board.
But to members of TAME, Truth and Alternatives to Militarism in Education, the "Army Strong" ad that has cropped up on scoreboards at stadiums and gymnasiums this fall looks a lot like an endorsement of an Army future for Madison high school students.
"Students are at an age to figure out what to do with their lives," parent and TAME member Vicki Berenson said Thursday. "When they see 'Army' on the field every day, it starts to seem normal."
TAME is urging parents and others concerned over military recruitment in the high schools to come to the School Board meeting Monday to protest outside school district headquarters at 545 W. Dayton St., then head inside to sign up at 6:50 p.m. to speak out against the ads.
TAME, a Wisconsin branch of an emerging counter-recruitment movement, worked area high schools at fall registration to put in the hands of parents and students the forms that allow them to withhold student contact information from the U.S. military. Members say impressionable high-schoolers are too young to make a commitment that could cost them their lives.
The "No Child Left Behind Act" requires that school districts receiving federal funds provide military recruiters the same access to students that recruiters from colleges and employers have, but doesn't address advertising.
Madison school officials in January gave the nod to ads in district athletic sites, and hired a broker in hopes of raising some $200,000 for its perennially short coffers over two years. Under its three-year contract with the Madison School District, the Army will pay $17,700 to place ads at the Lussier Stadium at La Follette High School, Mansfield Stadium at Memorial High School and spectator gyms at each of the city's four high schools, said district spokesman Ken Syke.
Other advertisers range from banks and health care corporations to a pizza place, a driving school, a tuxedo rental store, a tutoring company and an Internet service provider, Syke said.
The school district's policy on advertising requires that ads be evaluated, case-by-case, as to whether they directly target students, promote a political position, or encourage the use of drugs, gambling or unhealthy food, among other criteria. School officials say they were cautioned by attorneys that they could not be too restrictive.
The School Board approved ads by the U.S. Army in June, Syke said.
School Board Treasurer Carol Carstensen said the ads don't specifically target students.
"They're directed at people attending sporting events," she said Thursday, adding that the board intended that the ads not be placed so that students are subjected to them as part of their education. Carstensen said physical education classes are not held at the stadiums, but she wasn't sure about the spectator gyms.
School officials say that the ads, which ask "Are You Army Strong?" don't amount to recruitment.
Carstensen said she doesn't like ads on school property, period. But she thinks high school students are quite capable of analyzing what the Army is about, regardless of any advertisements.
"I don't think the ads will have a significant impact," she said.
Still, she added, she'd support a policy that legally prohibited Army advertising.
Some district students choose the military, Silveira said. "And the ads fit with our current policy."
Berenson counters that the ad violates school policy, which limits military recruitment materials to guidance offices. The district has a "zero tolerance" policy for weapons and violence, but through the ads is advocating violence as a means of problem-solving, she said.
What's more, the Army openly discriminates against gays and lesbians, in violation of the school district's non-discrimination policies, Berenson said.
It's just not worth the ad income, she argued. "I'd rather pay more taxes."
pschneider@madison.com
The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A1
Friday, November 2, 2007
By PAT SCHNEIDER The Capital Times
It's just a logo and a phone number, says Arlene Silveira, president of the Madison School Board.
But to members of TAME, Truth and Alternatives to Militarism in Education, the "Army Strong" ad that has cropped up on scoreboards at stadiums and gymnasiums this fall looks a lot like an endorsement of an Army future for Madison high school students.
"Students are at an age to figure out what to do with their lives," parent and TAME member Vicki Berenson said Thursday. "When they see 'Army' on the field every day, it starts to seem normal."
TAME is urging parents and others concerned over military recruitment in the high schools to come to the School Board meeting Monday to protest outside school district headquarters at 545 W. Dayton St., then head inside to sign up at 6:50 p.m. to speak out against the ads.
TAME, a Wisconsin branch of an emerging counter-recruitment movement, worked area high schools at fall registration to put in the hands of parents and students the forms that allow them to withhold student contact information from the U.S. military. Members say impressionable high-schoolers are too young to make a commitment that could cost them their lives.
The "No Child Left Behind Act" requires that school districts receiving federal funds provide military recruiters the same access to students that recruiters from colleges and employers have, but doesn't address advertising.
Madison school officials in January gave the nod to ads in district athletic sites, and hired a broker in hopes of raising some $200,000 for its perennially short coffers over two years. Under its three-year contract with the Madison School District, the Army will pay $17,700 to place ads at the Lussier Stadium at La Follette High School, Mansfield Stadium at Memorial High School and spectator gyms at each of the city's four high schools, said district spokesman Ken Syke.
Other advertisers range from banks and health care corporations to a pizza place, a driving school, a tuxedo rental store, a tutoring company and an Internet service provider, Syke said.
The school district's policy on advertising requires that ads be evaluated, case-by-case, as to whether they directly target students, promote a political position, or encourage the use of drugs, gambling or unhealthy food, among other criteria. School officials say they were cautioned by attorneys that they could not be too restrictive.
The School Board approved ads by the U.S. Army in June, Syke said.
School Board Treasurer Carol Carstensen said the ads don't specifically target students.
"They're directed at people attending sporting events," she said Thursday, adding that the board intended that the ads not be placed so that students are subjected to them as part of their education. Carstensen said physical education classes are not held at the stadiums, but she wasn't sure about the spectator gyms.
School officials say that the ads, which ask "Are You Army Strong?" don't amount to recruitment.
Carstensen said she doesn't like ads on school property, period. But she thinks high school students are quite capable of analyzing what the Army is about, regardless of any advertisements.
"I don't think the ads will have a significant impact," she said.
Still, she added, she'd support a policy that legally prohibited Army advertising.
Some district students choose the military, Silveira said. "And the ads fit with our current policy."
Berenson counters that the ad violates school policy, which limits military recruitment materials to guidance offices. The district has a "zero tolerance" policy for weapons and violence, but through the ads is advocating violence as a means of problem-solving, she said.
What's more, the Army openly discriminates against gays and lesbians, in violation of the school district's non-discrimination policies, Berenson said.
It's just not worth the ad income, she argued. "I'd rather pay more taxes."
pschneider@madison.com
Truth and Alternatives to Militarism in Education website
Submitted by wnpj on Fri, 11/09/2007 - 1:50pm.