Did you know that President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act mandates that public high schools turn over private student contact information to local military recruiters or risk losing federal education funding? Not only that, but the Pentagon has compiled a database of more than 30 million young people, including 16- and 17-year-olds, for the purpose of military recruitment?
The Leave My Child Alone! coalition makes it easy to protect children from unwanted military recruiting by getting their names off both of these lists. To opt your child out, go here.
From September 7-30, Leave My Child Alone! coalition partners will be mounting a nationwide "back to school" campaign complete with events in all 50 states plus Washington, DC. You can join up with other concerned parents, teachers, grandparents, veterans, privacy advocates, and members of your local community by attending or organizing school board meeting outings to advocate for opt-out policies and pass model school board resolutions. To find out about events near you, or to find out how you can organize an event yourself, go here.
The Leave My Child Alone! coalition was created by Working Assets, ACORN, and Mainstreet Moms to protect high school students from unwanted military recruiting. Since the coalition's launch on Mother's Day, concerned parents nationwide have held more than 110 "opt out" events, and more than 10,000 children have been opted out of lists that public high schools turn over to military recruiters. EFF strongly supports initiatives like this to halt the government's collection of private information about citizens.
