New England Yearly Meeting Young Friends

Regarding the Draft

No one is sure what is going to happen regarding the draft, and the recent House vote seems to indicate that there will not be a reinstitution of the draft for quite some time. However, this is a good time for parents to talk to their children about the draft and their views on military participation. (Current proposals include men and women 18-25 years of age, with no exemption for college.) If parents think that their children are thinking about not registering or are interested in applying for Conscientious Objector (CO) status, now is the time to start creating a file that will demonstrate the child's commitment to peace and non-violence. Below are some suggestions of things that that can be done now followed by websites with much more comprehensive information.

Applicants should request letters regarding their beliefs about military service from religious leaders or clergy. Young Friends should contact Kim Allen for this.
Take pictures of applicants at any peace/anti-war demonstrations s/he attends.
Get letters documenting participation in school clubs or other organizations with a commitment to peace, non-violence, or anti-militarism from the teacher/leader/advisors of these groups.
Write a few paragraphs articulating her/his beliefs regarding peace, non-violence, and war (see last bullet point for how to date this).
If appropriate, apply for junior or adult membership to meeting. Keep a copy of the letter requesting membership and make sure the letter contains clear reasons why the applicant decided to seek membership.
The applicant should write, in their own handwriting, letters to their Congressional Representatives and Senators stating their views about the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and their beliefs in non-violence. Make sure to keep dated copies.
If the applicant is registering and wants to apply for CO status if there is a draft, he should write clearly in the margin of the card "I am a Conscientious Objector." He should make a number of copies and mail one to himself the day he sends in his registration form (see next bullet point).
One way to keep legally dated copies without going to a Notary Public is to send a copy of any document or photograph to yourself. Make sure to write your address and put the stamp on the back of the envelope over the seal so that the dated postal service mark gets placed over the seal. Do not open the envelope and keep it filed with an additional copy of its contents.

Also, take a look at these websites:

Federal law requires all that public schools turn over all student contact information to the military annually or at local military recruiters' request. Parents and students have the right to request that their information not be given to the military. To do so, the parent or student should write a letter to their school's administration stating that they do not want this information shared. Below is a sample letter:

Dear School Administrator's Name:

This letter is to inform you that I wish to exercise my rights under section 9528 of the "No Child Left Behind" Act, and hereby request that no information about my child or me be disclosed to any military recruiter without my prior written consent.

The right to privacy concerning school records is also recognized by the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which allows me to withhold consent to the disclosure of directory information about my child or me to military recruiters. Accordingly, I request that you do not disclose my child's or my name, address, or telephone number to military recruiters without my prior written permission.

Student's name:
Parent/Guardian or Student Signature:
Date:

Ideally, the child should write this letter and keep a copy for her/his files. Different districts have different deadlines for this year. Parents should be given at least one week to respond after being notified that their district shares this information (this may have been buried in paper work from the summer). In any event, it is worth doing and should be updated annually.

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