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Resource

Security for the future: In search of a new vision

May 2016

A group of UK peacebuilding professionals invite you to participate in a new civic conversation about alternatives to the current approach to national security. Here they outline their concerns about the existing model, and offer a different vision for the future, welcoming input from anyone who wishes to engage in this debate.


Comment article

Launch of new film on the military and young people

01/07/2014

ForcesWatch comment

On Thursday 26 June 2014, we launched our new short documentary film 'Engage: the military and young people', at Friends House in London. A packed and diverse audience watched the film, which was very well-received. Speakers included Ben Griffin, founder of Veterans for Peace UK, Sam Hepworth from Headliners (the youth journalists charity who made the film) and some of the young filmmakers, and Owen Everett, Education Campaign worker at ForcesWatch.


News

Quaker report opposes increasing militarisation

27/06/2014

Ekklesia

“The stirring music, smart uniforms and synchronised marching that characterise Armed Forces Day are a glossy front behind which sits a deliberate strategy to manipulate the public,”


Resource

Engage: the Military and Young People – discussion points

2014

Why does the UK military have a 'youth engagement' policy and why is the UK government promoting 'military ethos' within education? What is the impact of military activities taking place in schools? ForcesWatch and Headliners worked with a group of young people in London to produce this short film which explores these questions. These discussion points can be used in education and youth groups.


News

Young people criticise military activities in schools as government announces more funding for cadets

23/06/2014

ForcesWatch press release

A week after the government pledged a further £1 million for more cadet forces in state secondary schools, a new film is launched which shows that many young people are critical of the promotion of military activities in their schools.


News

The British Army frontline: women and children first

03/06/2014

Open Democracy

Child Soldiers International: We now face the prospect of 16 year old girls joining the army in combat roles.


Resource

Teach Peace pack

revised 2016

Teach Peace, a new resource from the Peace Education Network, is a set of eight assemblies, follow-up activities, resources, prayers and reflections on peace for primary schools. From the UN peace day, 21 September, to the International Day for Children as Victims of War, 4 June, the school year is ?lled with opportunities to use the assemblies and activities in Teach Peace. This resource will help to ensure peace is a key theme in our children’s education and help you to celebrate peace and the peacemakers in your school. The entire resource is free to download below. Hard copies of Teach Peace are available from the Peace Education Network for £5. Also available in Welsh.


News

Your country needs your children – MoD targets teens to fix recruitment crisis

27/05/2014

Child Soldiers International press release

Amid ongoing controversy around the MoD’s struggling recruitment campaigns for the armed forces, figures published this week reveal that the Army has resorted to increasing numbers of 16-year-olds in an attempt to fix the recruitment shortfall.


Comment article

Questioning military academies and free schools

20/05/2014

ForcesWatch Comment

This article explains what we mean by  'military academies' and 'military free schools', and explores the concerns that they raise: the lack of evidence that they will raise attainment; that they can employ unqualified teachers; their limited accountability to the local community; the fact that they can set their own curriculum. Crucially, there are various agendas behind military academies and free schools, including providing employment for the growing number of veterans, and encouraging pupils to join the armed forces after they leave school. There is also unease about what military-style discipline would look like in a school environment.


News

Drone Wars: Pilots reveal debilitating stress beyond virtual battlefield

13/05/2014

livescience.com

"To extinguish a person's life is a very personal thing. While physically we don't experience the five senses when we engage a target — unlike [how] an infantryman might — in my experience, the emotional impact on the operator is equal."