Schools should definitely offer this program! It's important to recognize that college is not the best option for everyone and to give kids the tools to be successful through other avenues.

(Of course, the military also needs to change its policies regarding gays, but I don't think that's a compelling reason to scrap the program entirely.)

I loved JROTC in High School. And it's no where nearly as strict as the actual military in a lot of cases. I never actively joined the military, but I did love JROTC and hope that everyone has the opportunity to participate.

I hope they decide to keep it. I don't see how it could limit a person's career opportunities. If anything, I think it would be an advantage. I've known many people who 'grew up' once they entered the JROTC program. I think it is a wonderful program.

Good points tor. Not everyone is cut out for college. And about your second point, they are some murmurs of change on that. Questioning whether the "don't ask don't tell" policy causes more harm than just letting soldiers be openly gay...

Yeah, I think this is just a matter of time. In 50 years not letting gays in the military will be just another embarrassing bit of history.

They should keep it. I was in JROTC (becuase I wanted to be in the navy) and it made me realize that the armed forces was not for me. I think its a great program though.

I hadn't thought of that benefit before: keeping people out of the military who realize it's not for them before they actually enlist.

My high school always had this program. I am not for it.

Can I ask why? Was the program problematic at your school?

I never joined one when I was in highschool, but there are definitely many students who can benefit from it

I think this program is great for many high schoolers; however, I think it would be beneficial to many inner city and poor school districts, it will give students another look what they can become, discipline, and help them achieve and envision their goals.

I can see not wanting to have recruiters on school campuses but eliminating the JROTC program is crosses the line from reasonable protection to irrational paranoia.

I'm glad to here that Mayor Newsome is in support of the program and that most people don't have a problem with it. I really don't think the School Board has enough support to pull this one off and I'm glad.

If you want to have some sort of junior military club fine, but not at schools. If you want to encourage leadership, citizenship, self-reliance and responsibility, support scouting. But JROTC is a military recruiting program that charges the community for access to it’s impressionable young people. The military message contradicts schools’ zero tolerance policies toward weapons - supplying students with rifles or imitations. A gang in Long Beach used the JROTC lessons to its own uses and at least one murder.

JROTC websites brag that it teaches leadership, first aid, physical education, map reading, communication and history... all of which, with the exception of first aid, should be covered in a well-functioning school anyway.

JROTC is supposed to be an elective but schools are pressured to keep enrollment up - a program must have at least 100 students or 10% of the student body. Many schools have a policy of automatically enrolling new students . They’re supposed to be given an option to get out but schools have placed obstacles in the way, often insisting that a student complete the semester or year before being let out or being told that there is no other course available during that time slot.
According to the Army Times, there’s just a 7-10 day instructor training program for retired military service members who want to become JROTC instructors.There is no national requirement that they meet the same certification standards as other teachers.
JROTC is sold to school districts as a "free" program but under a standard JROTC contract, the DoD provides students with books, uniforms and "special equipment" like the rifles. Insurance, building facilities and maintenance, and half the salaries and all benefits: all of these are costs to the district

I never had this in high school and think that a lot of my friends who didn't want to go to college could have benefited from this program. And i agree torgleson on this one, years from now discriminating against gays is just going to be something we frown upon later.

i go to a high school with jrotc and it has no downsides to its program or the students in it.

" If you want to encourage leadership, citizenship, self-reliance and responsibility, support scouting."

I don't think scouting provides the same career path. I lump JROTC with some of the other vocational classes some schools offer.

Steph, what's your source for your info?

And you're right, well-functioning schools should teach those qualities, but many of them don't.

Scouting also separates boys and girls, while JROTC allows them to learn these skills together.

And simplyfab, thanks for sharing your perspective. I'm with you, torg, that's a benefit I hadn't really thought about before.

I just don' care for scouting, honestly. My friend worked for the Boy Scouts and did not have many good things to say about it.

But! I can see the point more generally that there are other programs where students can learn leadership and other skills.

"The military message contradicts schools’ zero tolerance policies toward weapons - supplying students with rifles or imitations."

I can see your point although I don't really agree. That's a bit like saying teaching your kids karate is going to promote violence. It's up to the instructors to control the message they want to send. Military training teaches the discipline that some HS students may need.

Hmm Stephley- interesting info.

I personally HAVE considered joining the military, but I do not think recruiters should be allowed at high school, and I do not think there should be a JROTC at school. It really should be an out of school extracurricular. The high school students should be focusing on academics. And, I have a HUGE problem with allowing any organization, governmental or not, that does not allow gays to participate. I just don't think kids should be exposed to that at school.

Do we know if JROTC prohibits gay students from participating?

Lilkimbo, It's personal knowledge from things I've written elsewhere in the past so it's pulled from various sources.

I was interested in the percentage requirements in particular, as I cannot find anything related to that. Do you happen to remember where that came from?

And I don't actually care about scouting - just saying if you think those things need to be pressed in high school, there's a way to do it that doesn't involve the military - which has a distinct pov.

While I don't oppose JROTC in schools per say, the picture of the Black kids and one White kid is very telling about who we are recruiting to join the military.

I'm looking for the stats now, but our military is actually fairly representative of our population as a whole, with a higher percentage of Caucasians in the military than in the general population.

Perhaps this particular school is in a neighborhood that has a high African American population.

I think the photo is telling of the racial makeup of the people in the photo. It varies a lot from school to school.

I was also interested in the policy about automatically enrolling new students, as I have never heard of that, either (except at private schools). In fact, I went to a school with JROTC, and I am confident that they did not automatically enroll new students. Many of my friends also attended schools where JROTC was offered and not one of them was automatically enrolled, either.

I haven't heard of the auto-enrollment either.

(Not saying it's not true, just that its not been my experience, and I went to several high schools since my military family moved a lot.)

Same here, torg. Which is why I am curious as to where the info came from (if Steph remembers). I'd like to read more about it.

Generally, I've seen 54% as the percentage for minorities in the JROTC - but actual statistical breakdowns are hard to find. I've read that 45-50% join the military, but can't find an actual study that feels valid to quote on that. And I first worked with a peace group that opposed the JROTC in the early 1980's, so I can't do a good breakdown of where I learned what. The Long Beach gang reference was from a Washington Post article, I confirmed the training period in an Army Times article.

I'm curious to know more. I don't want to be saying it's a good thing if I'm unknowingly promoting a sketchy program.

Interesting...I would be curious to know the percentage of minority students at schools where JROTC is offered. Even if 54% is the accurate number, it's possible that JROTC is still representative of the student bodies of the schools where its available. (And, just to be clear, I was writing about the military as a whole in regards to percentage of minorities enlisted.) I've read that around 30% of JROTC students eventually join the military, but again, I can't find a credible source at the moment. I'm curious as to whether some of the information you remember is still accurate; a lot can change in 25 years.

That would be interesting. I wonder if there is any policy, official or otherwise, about recruiting minorities.

Here is a post from a while back about how the military is directly appealing to women and other minorities in advertisements.

Accurate statistical breakdowns seem hard to come by on this.

I think JROTC provides an excellent program for a number of kids who might not otherwise have a clear career path. My son is both a Boy Scout and NJROTC; his call, not necessarily mine.

At his high school, the demographics (based solely on my observation at year-end ceremonies) mostly match the mix at the school, although with fewer Asians and African-Americans and more Hispanics. Women are pretty well represented, and respected by their peers. I do feel this photo is not representative! But a lot of public agencies attempt to recruit women and minorities for purposes of diversity: police, fire, etc.

I think this is a great program for teaching discipline and providing structure for kids. The camaraderie is evident, too.

As for the weapons aspect, our HS's drill team (all female) also use rifles as well as tall flags. And the ROTC has started an unarmed drill team as well as the armed one. IMO they're less violent and aggressive than the football team.

I really enjoyed the JROTC competitions back in high school. They were very entertaining.

Also, regarding scouting: Venture Crews are co-ed. My son's Boy Scout troop just started one of those, too. I believe they have about 10 boys and 4 or 5 girls. They also extend to age 21, where regular scouting ends at 18.

Scouting is much more recreational and less academic and disciplined than ROTC, even though it was started by a military man.

Sorry, Laine, I was thinking of the traditional model of scouting when I commented about it not being co-ed. I guess a lot has changed since I was a Brownie in first grade!

On a side note, I think 4-H is a great program to support. It teaches so many skills other than farming and actually has a lot of projects that "city-kids" would be interested in, too.

I don't know why I abbreviated city kids! You guys get the idea, though.

Not abbreviated, hyphenated.

Maybe I just really want to be top talker!

Haha, your posts do always seem to come in sets. It's like they're paragraphs.

We talk about DADT a lot here and I just saw this the other day, the House of Reps will be having a hearing on it on Wednesday, the first since the 90s.

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid57716.asp

As for the % of minorities in JROTC, I don't find a stat for that either, but there are a lot of people who make it seem like the military is made disproportionally of the uneducated and minorites and thats not the case.

65% of males in the military are white, 53% of females in the military are white.

Also, people like to think that people who into the military do it because they are uneducated, which is not true. 91% of 18-24 year olds in the military have a HS diploma or higher, as opposed to only 80% of civilians of the same age.

http://www.defenselink.mil/prhome/poprep2001/chapter2/c2_raceth.htm