National Guard presence in high schools?

[MineralMan]

34. Yes, I understand that you see a difference.

And there is one. However, not all teens in high school are going to go to college. Not all should go to college. For those who do not, the military, even the National Guard, is a viable alternative to other non-college choices. I understand that you do not want your son to join the military. However, in a few years, that will be his decision to make, not yours.

I understand that you think the military is a bad choice, and I'm sure it probably would be for you. However, making that choice available and presenting it as an option to high school students is not a bad thing, in general. College recruiters will show up to sell their particular institution to students. Schools also have job fairs to let students see other employment options. The military is just another option that is available. It's the right one for some students, and the wrong one for others.

In the end, when you are 14 years old, you do not know what decisions you will make in the next four years. I certainly did not at that age. My parents pushed me to become an engineer. I was perfectly capable of doing that, and was accepted at Cal Tech and other schools. After a year, though, of studying engineering, it became clear to me that it was the wrong choice for me. My parents wouldn't hear of a change, though, so I bypassed them and opted to spend four years in the military so I could gain some additional experience and maturity before making my decision. My parents were wrong in their choice for me. In fact, they declared that they wouldn't support me in college if I changed majors. So, I ended up using the GI Bill to pay for my own education. Their demands were not something I could accept.

When your child is 14 or 15, or even 16, you might think you know what is best for that child to do as an adult. You might think you know what would be a bad choice, too. It's a crap-shoot, though. As an adult, even a young adult, your child may well decide that what you think is not the best thing. Once your child becomes an adult, your opinion of what he or she should do with his or her life becomes irrelevant, really.

That's why presenting many possibilities to adolescents is so important. They will end up making their own decisions, which might well not be the ones you would make for them. In the end, if you have raised your child to think and reason, the child, as an adult, will make the decisions that are best for him or her, not you.

Military service is an honorable thing for someone to do, either for a short time, or even as a career. It is also a good temporary option when such a major life decision is difficult to reach. Not everyone knows what will be the best fit at 18 years of age. I certainly didn't. It took me a few more years to figure that out. I'd have been a good electronics engineer, but it wasn't the right choice for me. It seemed right to my parents, though, and I went along with them until I discovered that it wasn't right for me.

Teenagers need to see as many options as possible, so they can better weigh them when deciding what they will do with their lives. That's why the National Guard or other military recruiters, are not bad things during those years. They are simply presenting additional options that are available. For some, what they offer is the best option. For others, what they offer will be tossed aside.

In the end, it will be your child, as a young adult, who will decide for him or herself. I assure you that what you think is not going to be the basis for that choice if your child is independent and has learned to think for him or herself.