Georgia-2009-HR1219-Introduced

By: Representatives Benfield of the 85th, Morgan of the 39th, Henson of the 87th, Drenner of the 86th, Bell of the 58th, and others

Urging the Georgia Department of Education and all school systems in Georgia to safeguard the rights of children under the age of 17 from military recruitment and to implement basic safeguards for the recruitment of 17-year-olds; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, in 2002 the United States Senate ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which requires that each state party "deposit a binding declaration upon ratification of or accession to the present Protocol that sets forth the minimum age at which it will permit voluntary recruitment into its national armed forces and a description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced"; and

WHEREAS, at ratification, the United States entered a binding declaration that set age 17 as the absolute minimum age for military recruitment; and

WHEREAS, the Optional Protocol mandates that state parties permit voluntary recruitment of children younger than 18 only on the conditions that such recruitment is "genuinely voluntary" and is "carried out with the informed consent of the person's parents or legal guardians," in addition to requiring that such recruited individuals be "fully informed of the duties involved in such military service" and "provide reliable proof of age prior to acceptance" into the military; and

WHEREAS, the prevailing international standard is to prohibit the voluntary recruitment of persons under the age of 18 into the military, as evidenced by 89 of 128 state parties to the Optional Protocol declaring 18 as the minimum age for recruitment and as evidenced by the concluding observations and recommendations of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols; and

WHEREAS, the Optional Protocol recognizes that children younger than 18 are "entitled to special protection"; and

WHEREAS, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has called upon the United States to refrain from using the educational system to promote the military or military-type training for children, and has also called upon the United States not to permit military recruiting which targets racial and ethnic minorities and children of low-income families and other vulnerable socio-economic groups, as such activities run counter to the object and purpose of the Optional Protocol; and

WHEREAS, according to the No Child Left Behind Act, high schools must disclose the contact information for juniors and seniors, including students under 17 years of age, to military recruiters or risk losing federal aid and this information may be forwarded to the military without the knowledge or consent of the parents; and

WHEREAS, while parents and students may sign and submit a form requesting that their contact information be withheld from military recruiters, many Georgia schools do not make the exemption forms or information about the exemption forms readily available to high school students and their parents; and

WHEREAS, some Georgia high schools encourage students, including students under 17 years of age, to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, a military placement exam that serves as a military recruiting tool; and

WHEREAS, the United States military continues to engage in other tactics designed to recruit students under the age of 17, despite the United States' binding declaration to only recruit persons 17 years of age and older.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body urge the Georgia Department of Education and all school systems within the State of Georgia to:

(1) Cease all current and future programs and activities designed to recruit children under the age of 17, including but not limited to military schools and Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery testing;

(2) When instituting military-related programs and activities such as military schools and Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery testing for children ages 17 or older, Georgia schools do so only upon written consent from participating students' parents or legal guardians obtained after fully informing the students and their parents or legal guardians about the military nature of the programs or activities, the fact that participation in such is completely voluntary, and the duties generally involved in military service; and

(3) Begin to actively provide students and parents with exemption forms and information regarding exemption forms that would prohibit the students' schools from disclosing students' records to military recruiters as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the public and the press and to the State School Superintendent with a request to distribute copies of this resolution to all school systems in this state.