North America

By Ann Jones

Congress surely meant to do the right thing when, in the fall of 2008, it passed the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA).  The law was designed to protect kids worldwide from being forced to fight the wars of Big Men. From then on, any country that coerced children into becoming soldiers was supposed to lose all U.S. military aid.

It turned out, however, that Congress -- in its rare moment of concern for the next generation -- had it all wrong.  In its greater wisdom, the White House found countries like Chad and Yemen so vital to the national interest of the United States that it preferred to overlook what happened to the children in their midst.

By Jennifer Walleman / Fort Leavenworth Lamp -

Note: The military claims that it does not focus on recruiting low-income people.

The National Assn. of Secondary School Principals partnered with the Army to sponsor this symposium at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in the United States. The principals were chosen because they are from schools serving students living in poverty. Notice the final quote at the end from one of them:

“Now that I have a better understanding of what the Army can offer, I’m going to sit down with the recruiter back home, and I’m going to have him be a little bit more aggressive with our kids and give him more opportunities to (reach) kids and explain to them how and why the military might be a good solution to actually help them be a success.”