‘Character Building’ range of HM Armed Forces toys
06/07/2015
A 'Character Building' series of armed forces toys licensed by the MoD is discredited by the new Veterans for Peace UK short film on some of the things that these toys don't show, and by developments in 'character education' that indicate there is no need for 'military ethos' initiatives in UK schools.
hmarmedforces.com
Update on Army attempt to obtain sensitive student data for recruitment purposes
30/06/2015ForcesWatch comment
Following our recent piece on the news story that the Ministry of Defence requested access (which the Department for Education rejected) to the database of sensitive data of school students in England, to help the Army better target its recruitment practice, it has emerged that the Army - in collaboration with Royal Holloway College and the mobile phone app specialists DotNet - was specifically seeking to match individuals’ data with specific Army jobs, with a mobile phone app an apparent intended output.
This and other revelations undermine the claims by the MoD quoted in the original news coverage of the story that they aren’t targeting individuals for recruitment, and that the request was an error that had been “halted”.
The British Armed Forces need to stop targeting and recruiting children
30/06/2015
The freelance journalist Lee Williams gives an overview of the UK military's youth engagement, and presents a strong ethical case for why the armed forces should stop recruiting children.
The Independent
Armed forces not required to offer soldiers aged 16-17 the same standard of education that is required in civilian life
30/06/2015
Child Soldiers International
Compulsory education for 16-17s: research reveals that the armed forces are not required to give child soldiers the same minimum standard as civilian institutions. The minimum attainment requirement of the Army (which has the vast majority of children in the armed forces) is shown to be very low.
Military ethos in schools is not character education but recruitment propaganda, claim Mark Thomas and Clare Short
30/06/2015
In a new film from the Quakers, comedian Mark Thomas and former MP Clare Short claim the Government is misusing the education system to encourage support for its wars and to promote careers in the armed forces.
Citizenship Foundation
British Veterans Made Some Dark Films to Protest the UK Army’s Recruitment of 16-Year-Olds
30/06/2015
An article on the context of the striking new short film from Veterans for Peace UK, Action Man: Battlefield Casualties , which presents a new range of war-traumatised action men.
Vice
Armed Forces Day and other ways of manufacturing consent
27/06/2015
A year ago we wrote how Armed Forces Day symbolises the creep of militarism into our civil institutions. Far from being merely a reflection of public respect, this creep is the result of a concerted effort, which can be tracked through policy initiatives and is fuelled by concern that the military are losing control of the public narrative around defence. We noted how these public displays, which are ostensibly about supporting 'the men and women who make up the Armed Forces', (including Camo Day, Reserves Day and the Poppy Appeal), act to market the military as an institution and to build a positive and uncritical narrative around it and support its recruitment needs.
A year, and another Armed Forces Day, later, we look here at how militarism continues to creep into schools and colleges and how recent developments further embed military approaches and interests within the education system.
ForcesWatch comment
War marketed as family entertainment
26/06/2015
Letter to The Independent (see all signatories below).
Letter to The Independent (see all signatories below)
Welsh Gov told to review the way British military recruits in Welsh schools
23/06/2015
The Welsh Government has been told to review of the way the British Armed Forces are allowed to recruit in Welsh schools.
The Daily Wales
War veterans call for rethink on recruitment of 16-year-olds
23/06/2015
Former professionals condemn recruitment of teenagers by ‘pushing the notion of a noble military career to children’.
The Guardian