Forces Watch

Thu

Aug

2014

Challenging the military's involvement in education in the United Kingdom

New translation available

Submitted by hannah

The UK armed forces visit thousands of schools each year. They offer school presentation teams, ‘careers advisors’, lessons plans, away days and more. While they claim that this is not recruiting, the Ministry of Defence itself states that the...

Wed

Feb

The Last Ambush?: reports

Submitted by Gary on Wed, 12/02/2014 - 21:37

Forces Watch -

This report investigates some of the main mental health effects of a career in the British armed forces during the last decade. It explores how widespread these effect are, whom they affect most, and why. It finds that harmful levels of drinking, as well as violent behaviour after deployment, are serious problems in the armed forces. Compared with the general population and with current personnel, former personnel are markedly more affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, harmful drinking, common mental disorders (types of anxiety and depression), and self-harming behaviour. Pre-enlistment adversity, exposure to warfare at close quarters, and loss of social support after leaving the forces are among the most potent risk factors. While many people in the armed forces have good mental health, some face substantially greater risks than others. The youngest recruits from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are the group most at risk.

Thu

Feb

Peace Education Network: Teach Peace

Submitted by Gary on Thu, 06/02/2014 - 21:13

Teach Peace, a new resource from the Peace Education Network, is a set of eight assemblies, follow-up activities, resources, prayers and reflections on peace for primary schools.

From the UN peace day, 21 September, to the International Day for Children as Victims of War, 4 June, the school year is ﬁlled with opportunities to use the assemblies and activities in Teach Peace. This resource will help to ensure peace is a key theme in our children’s education and help you to celebrate peace and the peacemakers in your school.

This Package Includes:

Fri

Jan

Interview with Emma Sangster, co-ordinator of Forces Watch

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 31/01/2014 - 18:55

Ian Sinclair -

Last summer the first Armed Forces Day was marked in the UK with over 200 nationwide public events including a military parade in Chatham, Kent attended by the Prime Minister. According to the official Armed Forces Day website the event “is an annual opportunity for the nation to show your support for the men and women who make up the armed forces community” who are “busy working around the world, promoting peace, delivering aid, tackling drug smugglers and providing security and fighting terrorism.”

Tue

Jan

Saskia Neibig, Woodcraft Folk: Raising awareness, taking action

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 21/01/2014 - 15:23

Saskia Neibig, from Woodcraft Folk talks about raising awareness and taking action.

Saskia was involved in the Woodcraft Folk's Campaign Against Military Recruitment in Schools, which is still active.

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Saskia Neibig, Woodcraft Folk: Raising awareness, taking action

Mon

Jan

Sowing Seeds Booklaunch

Housmans Bookshop for the launch of 'Sowing Seeds: The Militarisation of Youth and How to Counter It'

Mon

Jan

Emma Sangster: Young people and the British military

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 20/01/2014 - 12:54

Emma Sangster, from Forces Watch, on how the British military interacts with young people.

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The Militarisation in Everyday Life in the UK conference was held in London in October 2013 and was organised by ForcesWatch. It brought together academics, writers, activists and campaigners who are researching, writing, campaigning on, or just concerned about the implications of the militarisation of everyday life in the UK.

Emma Sangster: Young people and the British military

Tue

Jan

Militarisation in everyday life in the UK: a conference report

Submitted by Gary on Tue, 14/01/2014 - 12:39

Armed Forces Community Covenant on our commitment to serving armed forces personnel, veterans and their families in Barnsley

ForcesWatch -

Many areas of society in the UK have seen a growing involvement and/or visibility of the military and military approaches in recent years - from schools, to local communities, to ‘militainment’ (military-themed films, TV programmes, video games etc). This process of privileging and prioritising the military is often referred to as ‘militarisation’; Cynthia Enloe, one of the foremost thinkers on the subject, states that “To become militarised is to adopt militaristic values and priorities as one's own, to see military solutions as particularly effective, to see the world as a dangerous place best approached with militaristic attitudes.”

Tue

Jan

Mind the Gap: Education for minors in the British armed forces

Submitted by Gary on Tue, 14/01/2014 - 12:07

Forces Watch -

The minimum recruitment age for the British armed forces – 16 years – is one of the lowest in the world. The Ministry of Defence has traditionally justified recruiting from this age group by asserting that 16 years reflects the minimum statutory school leaving age.

However, as a result of successive governments’ policies to increase upper secondary education participation rates, over recent decades the number of young people leaving education and entering employment before the age of 18 has decreased significantly. Today, only a very small percentage of young people leave education at 16 (six per cent in 2009/2010). Apart from the Ministry of Defence, the only other institution which seeks to attract and retain this age group is the education system itself. It is with schools and colleges, not other employers, that the Ministry of Defence directly competes to recruit young people.

Fri

Jan

Militarising Education

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 10/01/2014 - 01:04

The incursion of the military into the British education system will mean that alternatives to war and peaceful ways of resolving conflict will be more difficult for young people to explore. In the long term we will all pay a heavy price, says Emma Sangster.

The UK government is on a drive to integrate 'military ethos and skills' into the structure of education, echoing developments in the US and founded on an ideology that says that everything military is good.

Fri

Jan

Informed Choice? Armed forces recruitment practice in the United Kingdom

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 10/01/2014 - 00:36

Informed Choice? An independent report, published in 2007, highlighting the risks posed to young people through joining the military, how young people from disadvantaged communities are targeted, how information available to potential recruits is often misleading and how the terms of service are complicated, confusing and severely restricting. The research found that a large proportion join for negative reasons, including the lack of civilian career options.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.