Forces Watch

Thu

Aug

2014

Challenging the military's involvement in education in the United Kingdom

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

The UK armed forces visit thousands of schools each year. They offer school presentation teams, ‘careers advisors’, lessons plans, away days and more. While they claim that this is not recruiting, the Ministry of Defence itself states that the...

Fri

Feb

Chris Rossdale, City University London: Raising awareness, taking action: video

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 21:41

Forces Watch -

The Militarisation in Everyday Life in the UK conference was held in London in October 2013 and was organised by ForcesWatch. It brought together academics, writers, activists and campaigners who are researching, writing, campaigning on, or just concerned about the implications of the militarisation of everyday life in the UK.

Chris Rossdale, City University London: Raising awareness, taking action: video

Fri

Feb

Victoria Basham, Exeter University: The militarisation of childhood in the UK - some recent trends: video

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 20:44

Forces Watch -

Victoria Basham, Exeter University: The militarisation of childhood in the UK - some recent trends: video

Fri

Feb

Kevin McSorley, University of Portsmouth: Militarism and the body: video

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 20:37

Forces Watch -

Kevin McSorley, University of Portsmouth: Militarism and the body: video

Fri

Feb

Sarah Bulmer, Exeter University & David Jackson, Veteran to Veteran: Rethinking the Veteran : video

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 20:27

Forces Watch -

Sarah Bulmer, Exeter University & David Jackson, Veteran to Veteran: Rethinking the Veteran : video

Fri

Feb

Bryan Mabee, Queen Mary University London: Militarism in context -- the policy framework: video

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 19:37

Forces Watch -

Bryan Mabee, Queen Mary University London: Militarism in context -- the policy framework: video

Fri

Feb

Diana Francis, Looking at everyday militarisation

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 18:49

Forces Watch -

Diana Francis, Looking at everyday militarisation

Fri

Feb

Questioning the Presence of the Armed Forces in Schools: report

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 18:05

Forces Watch -

WHY AND HOW THE ARMED FORCES ENGAGE WITH SCHOOLS

The armed forces engage with schools and colleges in a wide variety of ways, from providing lesson plans and teaching resources, to presentation teams in assemblies, careers talks, away days, Cadet forces, etc.

For the armed forces, the primary purpose of providing resources and activities for schools and colleges is not to benefit the school.

A report published by the Ministry of Defence in 2007, called ‘Engagement with UK Schools’, stated that:

Fri

Feb

Military activity in UK schools: report

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 16:55

Forces Watch - Updated May 2013

This briefing outlines the methods and rationale of the military's engagement with young people within the education system and highlights potential developments in this area, including projects under consideration or development by the Armed Forces and the Department of Education.

Armed forces activities in schools and colleges

Each of the three services that make up the Armed Forces, as well as the Ministry of Defence, have their own education and outreach programmes to engage with young people. Of the three, the Army has the most extensive programme of activities, reflecting their need to recruit more young soldiers.

Fri

Feb

Camouflage Kids: How the military affects young people's lives: publication

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 14/02/2014 - 16:00

A ForcesWatch poster showing policy, cultural and other recent developments affecting the extent of military influence in young people's lives.

Thu

Feb

Young age at Army enlistment is associated with greater war zone risks: An analysis of British Army fatalities in Afghanistan: report

Submitted by Gary on Thu, 13/02/2014 - 15:29

A young British soldier. Photograph: Shawn Baldwin/EPA

David Gee and Anna Goodman -

The risk of fatality in Afghanistan for recruits who enlisted into the British Army aged 16 and completed training has been twice as high as it has for those enlisting at 18 or above.

The increased risk reflects the disproportionately high number of 16 year olds who join front-line Infantry roles. This is the result of recruitment policies which drive young people with limited academic qualifications into the Army’s most dangerous roles. Those who enlist at 16 are effectively barred from entering many of the less risky support or technical roles due to lack of qualifications. Another probable contributing factor is the longer average career length of 16 year old recruits who successfully complete training, leading to more tours of duty in Afghanistan when compared with adult recruits.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.