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Cardiff event on ‘Red Hand Day’ 2015: ‘Ban schoolyard recruitment’
26/01/2015
On Red Hand Day (the annual international day of campaigning against the use of child soldiers), 12 February, 2015, a well-attended event at Cardiff's Temple of Peace called for an end to military presence and influence in schools and colleges in Wales. Featuring speakers from ForcesWatch and Fellowship of Reconciliation Wales, the event explored the nature of armed forces visits to schools and colleges in Wales, as well as the military's 'engagement' with young people in Wales more broadly...
Cardiff United Nations Association; Cardiff News Plus; Made in Cardiff TV
Military ethos – where’s the evidence?
26/01/2015
Jon Boagey, operations director [at the National Youth Agency], asks why military ethos doesn’t seem to need evidence to get government funding.
National Youth Agency
Army launches ‘rebranding’ and recruitment campaigns
21/01/2015
The Army is launching a publicity campaign to keep its work in the public eye, following the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.
BBC
Minister: cut teenage pregnancies with army cadets
20/01/2015
The Telegraph
Army cadet units could help cut the rate of teenage pregnancies, an education minister has said.
Lord Nash said teenage girls from single-parent families who had “never experienced the love of a man” could be deterred from forming “unsuitable relationships” if they enrolled in a cadet unit.
UK soldiers of 16 ‘too young’
12/01/2015
THE children’s commissioner for England has accused the armed forces of breaching the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by recruiting soldiers from the age of 16.
Sunday Times
More questions raised about the ‘Military Ethos in Schools’ programme
06/01/2015
The Department for Education has committed a further £3.5m to fund organisations building 'character' among school students, and £1m for research to find the most effective ways that character can be taught in schools.
TES, Telegraph, and BFBS
Armed Forces visit state schools as many as 20 times in two years
19/12/2014
FOUR out of five of Scotland's state secondary schools had visits by the Armed Forces within a two year period, sparking claims they were related to recruitment.
Herald Scotland
New report raises concerns about armed forces visits to Scottish schools
18/12/2014
A new report published today shows that the armed forces visited four fifths (83%) of state secondary schools within a two year period, between 2010-2012. The report argues that the purpose of many of the visits is related to recruitment into the armed forces.
ForcesWatch press release
YouGov poll finds that Britons tend to think less of the Army’s importance the younger they are
02/12/2014
As the British Army struggles to recruit new soldiers, YouGov polling finds that Britons tend to think less of the army's importance the younger they are.
YouGov
Questioning the military’s presence and influence in UK schools and colleges
02/12/2014
Did you know that the UK armed forces recruit 16-year-olds? Owen Everett from ForcesWatch explores the UK military’s wide influence in the education system and the concerns that arise from this.
Generation C
