Press
SSAW in the Papers
Secondary pupils join forces against army recruitment missions in Scots schools
Adam Forrest
Published in the Sunday Herald, Sept 2007
Click Here to read article >>>
Iraq, the MOD and class warfare
Matthew Holehouse
Published in The New Statesman, Aug 2007
Click Here to read article >>>
Britain; Recruiting Kids To Kill
Felicity Arbuthnot
Published in The UN Observer, Aug 2007
Click Here to read the article >>>
School students protest at plan to push war propaganda in schools
Published in Socialist Worker, Aug 2007
Click Here to read the article >>>
Students demonstrate against ‘blatant propaganda’ lessons
Published in The Camden New Journal, Aug 2007
Click Here to read the article >>>
Getting Then While They're Young
Patrick Ward
Published in the Socialist Review, May 2007
"Are you between 12 and 18 and looking for excitement?" asks the ad. "How does riding in a helicopter grab you? Or even rock climbing?"
Not just helicopters and rock climbing either: we're talking bob sleighs, rugby, tanks, computer games and getting shot at. Welcome to Camouflage, the glossy recruitment magazine from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
There are several international laws preventing these youngsters going to the front line, but that doesn't stop the MoD putting them on the production line. The £1 million Camouflage website offers video clips of how cool you will be among your school mates if you enlist, and video games letting you blow people up with a tank, all for free if you register.
You also get sent a goody bag with the jingoistic magazine and a special Camouflage kitbag. Usefully, the bag carries the warning that it is to be kept away from young children as it is not a toy. Presumably the assault rifles given to new recruits also carry this precautionary warning.
It was recently revealed that over a dozen 17 year olds were "accidentally" deployed to Iraq in 2003-4. The MoD is heavily reliant on recruiting the young - 40 percent of new recruits are aged 16 or 17.
The recent fall in applicants to the MoD (from 210,800 members in 1997 to 195,900 in 2006) has led them to devise new ways of finding its soldiers.
Recently, at Boroughmuir High School in Edinburgh, students were told one morning about a visit from military recruiters the following day. "We printed out some leaflets that evening and picketed the meeting the next day," said Patrick Orr, a student there. "Many students entering the meeting talked to us, and we convinced half the people to leave. There have not been any similar events since."
Elsewhere lecturers have blocked activities in further education colleges. Now the revelation that the MoD specifically targeted low income areas for underage recruitment has forced it to change tack from direct recruitment to a new scheme aimed at teachers.
According to its website, "Defence Dynamics", due to launch in September, is "an indispensable teacher toolkit, featuring 40 complete lesson plans and accompanying stimulus materials for GCSE students across four core subjects - Science, Maths, English and Geography".
So, rather than overtly trying to recruit wearing camouflage and flak jackets, the MoD think it will be far easier to camouflage the propaganda and hide it in the curriculum itself.
Something to Shout about
Su Clark
Published: Times Educational Supplement Scotland, 19 May 2006
Governments say they want the next generation to engage in politics. In France, it has worked - at the administration's expense. In Scotland, there is still a long way to go, writes Su Clark
Three years ago, when the anti-Hussein rhetoric was at its height and Britain was lurching toward war with Iraq, millions of adults and children took to the streets in Britain to protest. They marched with angry placards, shouting furiously, a people united in opposition. Then they went home and were ignored by the Government.
At the time the London march was described as one of the largest demonstrations ever witnessed across the nation. Organisers claimed two million, the police conceded at least a million. But it did not stop the invasion of Iraq.
Contrast this with recent events in France. Attempts to introduce a new easy-hire, easy-fire law (CPE) that enabled employers to sack anyone under the age of 26 resulted in rioting, sit-ins and blockades by students, young people and some children barely old enough to be in senior school. Day after day the protests raged and the schools remained empty. No one was ignored.
"When the government appears to be wrong, the people (especially those concerned) fight against that," says Christine Pichard, an English teacher in Chinon, in the Loire Valley. "We think this is democracy. Generally movements occur in the big cities, but even Chinon was in a frantic state.
The movement was widespread over the whole country. Pupils have learned a lot about rights and voting, etc."
But then, people sigh, that's so French. British youth would never act that way. They couldn't be bothered.
"I refuse to believe it," insists Mhairi Britton, 15, joint convener of a nascent protest movement, School Students Against the War, Scotland (SSAW).
"You have to have faith you can change things; the alternative is so awful.
Look at France. They won their battle because they were determined."
Her friend and joint convener, Patrick Orr, is equally impassioned. "You had young people who months before had been rioting in the suburbs joining privileged white students to stop these unfair laws," he adds. "Taking action does work."
Research by Henry Maitles, head of curricular studies at Strathclyde University's education faculty, suggests that young people are galvanised by single issues such as Fair Trade or environmental concerns rather than party politics.
Mme Pichard believes this is not so dissimilar to France.
"School children are not so politicised these days except when they are concerned, which was the case with the CPE," she says.
The war would appear to be a focal point for some young people in the UK, as the attempted relaxation of employment protection has been in France.
SSAW boasts more than 6,000 contacts nationally with groups in London, Cardiff, Somerset, and, since December last year, Scotland. The numbers in Edinburgh currently stand at 50, with new members joining each month through word of mouth. Organisers hope other groups in St Andrews and Glasgow will soon appear.
But the war is also introducing students to other issues that they may feel equally strong about.
If there is heightened awareness among this group, then perhaps the introduction of citizenship within the curriculum could be fuelling that awareness, especially with support and resources provided by organisations such as the Trades Union Congress and the Make Poverty History umbrella group, and the Electoral Commission itself. Lesson plans on free trade, globalisation and the environment are informing and engaging young people.
But does it go far enough? Some teachers believe that using citizenship to deliver political literacy is inadequate and that it should be taught through modern studies.
In France there is a long tradition of citizen education, which dates back to shortly after the revolution of 1789. According to Mme Pichard, pupils and teachers talk freely about politics, and once a week each class has an hour to speak freely with their "main" teacher. Also, she says, families talk about politics freely.
The members of SSAW shake their heads at the suggestion their education could have contributed to their politics.
"My school doesn't encourage any sort of serious debate," says Emily Still, 14, who attends Boroughmuir High, which does have full modern studies provision from S1 to Advanced Higher and a debating club. "I was brought up in a pretty political atmosphere. My mum used to take me on demonstrations along Princes Street when I was little, and get me to shout 'Tony Blair is insane'."
Sitting next to her is Robin Head Fourman, 13, in S2 at Boroughmuir High.
He also believes his parents, one of whom is a professor at Edinburgh University, are responsible for his interests.
Patrick Orr concurs: "Debate is stifled. The teachers talk to you in the same tone all the time so when something interesting is being said, no one is listening. And the school isn't ready to listen to us. We have a student council but there was no election, only candidates put forward by the teachers. When I kicked up a fuss about that, I was suddenly found a seat.
But the council doesn't discuss important issues."
The attitude of senior teachers across Scotland during recent protests, when students were threatened with sanctions if they left school to campaign against war or to support the end of poverty or protest against globalisation, merely convinces students further that schools oppose political awakening among pupils.
In France it is different; teachers went on strike to support students and trade unions.
"French educators are a lot less coy than their Scottish counterparts about encouraging young people to protest," says Mhairi's father, Alan Britton, deputy director of the global citizenship unit for Glasgow university's education faculty. "For while the Scottish pupils' anti-Iraq war walkouts in 2003 appear to have been spontaneous (with a little help from the Scottish Socialist Party), I've met teachers from France who encouraged pupils to walk out."
The SSAW members gathered to discuss their movement have apocryphal tales to tell of doors being locked at certain schools, even though the older ones were still in P7 when the major anti-war march took place.
"Schools don't like it if we are overtly political," says Emily. "We have a dress code at our school and it was used as an excuse to try to make me take off my bright pink anti-war button."
Part of the problem could be teachers' fear of appearing too political or of being accused of indoctrinating pupils, but Mr Maitles rejects this.
"I don't think school teachers are concerned or scared of being seen as radical by parents."
But teachers face a dilemma. They are responsible for ensuring the education and safety of children, and encouraging them to demonstrate in the streets does not fit with that remit. While they may be reluctant to let go of control in the classroom, they are more reluctant to permit any lack of control on the streets. And with party politics turning so many people off voting, direct action seems more common in Britain.
Teachers and parents are aware of the angry mobs at the G8 summit in Edinburgh and Gleneagles last July or the covert activities and body-snatching of animal rights groups.
"My parents don't like the idea of me being out on the streets but they know I am sensible," adds Robin.
The creation of SSAW gives vent to the frustrations of its members, and provides them with an opportunity for debate. It is also leading them into other campaigns. Patrick, joint convener of SSAW Scotland, is involved in the nascent Edinburgh School Students Union, which plans to hold its first congress this June, and recently, he joined Emily and Robin in a campaign within their school, Boroughmuir High in Edinburgh, over its cold weather policy. Rather than accept exile to the playground in all weathers, the three were involved with a whole school sit-in that forced the senior management to rethink. Pupils were delighted their actions led to a positive result.
"Sir Bernard Crick, Westminster adviser on citizenship, said that if we want to make citizens of our young people, we have to tolerate actions we do not necessarily agree with," argues Mr Maitles.
"I don't think we should just tolerate actions we do not like; we should actively encourage them even if we don't agree with them. Parents in France may not have liked the idea of their young people out demonstrating and the risks that brought, but they recognised their right to do it."
Press Release, 11am Friday 1st July 2005
School Students Against War
11am Friday 1st July 2005
Press release: Immediate
SCHOOL STUDENTS SAY "FIGHT POVERTY NOT WAR"
School students available for interview - see below
Anti-war school students from across the UK are joining the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh this Saturday.
They say more money should be spent on alleviating poverty and less on the military.
The school students, many of whom walked out in protest against the Iraq war in 2003, say the government's promises of more aid to Africa are insignificant when compared to the amount spent on arms.
Alys Elica Zaerin, 17, a pupil at Alexandra Park School in North London and convenor of School Students Against War (SSAW), asked: "How can the G8 governments claim to be serious about fighting poverty when they spend a combined $750bn a year on war?"
The group is co-ordinating a nationwide school student 'walkout against war and poverty' when the G8 summit begins on Wednesday 6th July. In London, school students will assemble on Parliament Square from 12 noon, with a rally at 4.30pm.
Other school students are camping in Edinburgh to join the summit protests during the week.
School Students Against War
http://www.ssaw.co.uk
ENDS
School students available for interview in London and Edinburgh - call Thomas Wills on 07914 502255 or Alys Elica Zaerin 07981 753053.
