The issue of military recruitment on the high school campus was a recent topic of discussion amongst many folks in the Lockport school district. A handful of concerned parents have looked at the act with a discerning eye, considering it a despicable means by which the federal system entraps our youth. They aired their concerns to the school board and, much to their chagrin, found active recruitment to be a completely legal and commonly-practiced military operation.

It can help but be in this day and age. We find ourselves saddled with serious manpower needs facilitated by the Iraq war and our global terror patrol. Making matters worse is the fact that we have an "aging" military. According to Army statistics only 16% of all rookies are from high school recruitment sessions and the average recruitment age is over 21. Therefore, in an effort to improve these numbers – as a healthy militia should start with young minds and young bodies – recruiting activities at public schools have been on the upswing.

This hesitation over the sudden abundance of recruiters in the High School is no doubt fueled by media sensationalism. The practice seems evil to some parents only because their assumptions are feeding off horror stories that are anecdotal at best. Many have heard rumors indicating recruiters have bullied potential recruits or forced disinterested students into joining their ranks. These tales are false and are merely the workings of Yellow Journalists preying upon justifiably fearful and protective parents during a time of war. Most recruiters are diligent, probably to a fault, but they are far from bullying. Recruiters are trained and monitored routinely to ensure adherence to standards and should not be looked at as suspect manipulators. Despite what the rumor mill may want one to believe, no recruiter has the power to force a youngster to join our post-draft-era military.

When one thinks about it, high school recruiting sessions are a Godsend. They attract new blood to our militia, new blood that is dedicated to our country and will maintain the American Way for many years to come. Recruiters should be applauded for maintaining the steadfast nationalism we have come to know over our Nation’s history by bringing aboard young patriotic minds well before they are tainted by the anti-war liberalism so prevalent in mass media and on college campuses everywhere.

This practice will no doubt be an issue of controversy as we head into another school year during a period of warfare. Yet before turning away recruiters or raising concerns over their presence, the parents need to understand why our military remains healthy. More so, they need think about the alternative to these recruiting endeavors.

Were it not for the immense patriotism showed by the few and the proud that do enlist and do make for a powerful military, high school parents everywhere would be battling something truly despicable and ineffective. That is, the filling of our militaristic needs through conscription.

That being said, protective parents should find that a little recruitment is more than acceptable as it goes a long ways in preventing us from becoming one of the many nations that actually do force their young men into the ranks as a standard way of doing business. We have no need for such methods as we can boast of a healthy military created solely of those who volunteered to fight to the death for its cause. Our heroic warriors sacrifice themselves for Old Glory so that others should not have to. It is that rugged spirit of volunteerism which helped our young nation turn away the Brits in the Revolutionary War and that same spirit that has made us the ultimate global presence in Today’s world.