.

Joining the military is a career option for any child. Those are not my words. They are the words of Virginia Schumacher, a retired teacher and manager at the History Center in Ithaca, N.Y., who wrote one of the classroom guides for the May issue of Cobblestone magazine, a children's magazine.

Let me preface this post by saying that I served honorably in the U.S. Navy. I'm 60 years old. I respect the rights of every soldier, sailor Marine and airman that have elected to serve our nation.

Those who know me from my posts and comments here at the cafe can readily see that I am not, to put it mildly, at all enthralled with the present administration, in particular the total mis-management and outright misuse of our military. I am not supporting the recruitment of any citizen, let alone children of the ages of 9-14 from the classrooms of schools.

With that said, let me tell of a personal experience relating to this issue that recently happened with my wife, who is a teacher.

My lovely wife of 36 years has spent her entire life as an educator seeing to the educational, emotional, and physical needs of children in the field of special education. Thirty years she's served. Much to her surprise she came upon a copy of a magazine and teaching materials that really caught her attention. The magazine is called Cobblestone and has been a staple of the teacher's lounge magazine rack for quite a few years. Some really fine issues over the years have assisted her and her fellow instructors. But, what really caught her eye on the cover of this latest issue was a cover photo of a soldier in Iraq clutching a machine gun (photo), and the bold lettering of Duty, Honor, Country.

The following short citation and link to an article published yesterday better explains what this particular magazine issue is about:

Preteen Mag Accused of Military Pitching

(Mon, Jul/03/2006)

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. - Parents and teachers are complaining that the latest issue of a popular magazine for preteens amounts to little more than an early recruitment pitch for the Army.

Cobblestone magazine, which is put out by Carus Publishing in Peterborough, is aimed at children ages 9-14 and is distributed nationwide to schools and libraries. Its latest issue features a cover photo of a soldier in Iraq clutching a machine gun and articles on what it's like to go through boot camp, a rundown of the Army's "awesome

arsenal" and a detailed description of Army career opportunities.

Most controversial has been a set of classroom guides that accompany the magazine, which suggest teachers invite a soldier, Army recruiter or veteran to speak to their classes and ask students whether they might want to join the Army someday. (continues)

Now what struck both my wife and I was the part about inviting a recruiter or veteran or active duty soldier to come to the school and speak with the children. That and the statement of Ms. Schumacher, the author of one of the classroom guides who feels that the military is a career option for any child.

Now mind you, the lovely children that I am speaking of are severe emotional and physically challenged children. Individually, each child has something positive in their own limited way to contribute to each other and society in general, but what could they contribute to the Army?

Or a better question I might ask is: What can these children teach the Army?

Maybe an invition to the local recruiting officer to visit the campus would answer these questions. I suspect that when and if a recruiter were to address these children, he'd walk away with a lot more than he'd bargained for, emotionally....

~OGD~

ps: If you did not read the links at the beginning, please make sure you take the time and follow these links for a full understanding:

Main Page for Cobblestone - May 2006 issue

And I adamantly implore you to read the following, it will really make most folks sit back and think... WHAT?

Teacher's Guide for COBBLESTONE ® Duty, Honor, Country (U.S. Army)

The Consulting Editor may be contacted below:

Mr. Matthew Seelinger

Chief Historian

Editor, On Point

703-522-7901 x4166

[email protected]

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