Opting out of recruiting at school

My son is going back to public school this year. He'll be in the 8th grade, is this the year that I need to opt out so that the military will not get his information?? I want to make sure I'm on top of this!

But if you don;t give the school permission to list him in the School Directory that should take care of the problem for this year. Make sure that when you register him for High School, that you request a form saying that the military is not to contact your child. One of my nephews has told me that he wasn't really bothered by them until 11th grade. But he takes after his auntie and told them too fuck off when they approached him.

provided to high school juniors and seniors only. Your son is most likely safe from propaganda for the time being.

the opt out form is right there with all the other forms provided to incoming 9th graders--yay! However, I would check with the admin of your district, just in case. Best wishes!

Thanks for the quick responses and for the info. I'm going to opt him out of the school directory and write a letter for his file at school.

And some "get around" the law by allowing you to protect your child, but they do not let you know that you can. Most do not give you the "opt-out" paper unless you specifically ask for it and even then, will delay actually getting it to you.

It all depends on the orders coming from the board that rules the school.

Be proactive.

When you opt out of military recruitment you may also be opting out of being contacted by colleges, scholarship information and sometimes yearbooks. Check with your school board and find out if they have a blanket opt out. If they do push them for a stand-alone opt out so you can just opt out of the military stuff.

My wife works in a school district with a blanket opt out so that students also will not be contacted by colleges if they opt out. It's a fucked up system.

And if your son moves to a different school for 9th grade, do a new form for that school.

You'll also want to ensure he doesn't take any "career interest surveys" without you being fully aware of what that test is, who sponsors it, and where the results go. Even if you opt out, if he takes the ASVAB, they will get his information and can use it for whatever they want.

Further, if you are interested in pushing beyond protecting just your own son, you can push for the school to include the opt out form in the registration forms/student policy book. Or you can have your son take that on as a project if it interests him - he may find that empowering.