Friends voice fears over army adverts
Quakers express concern over army adverts targeting vulnerable young people
Quakers have spoken out about the British army’s recent recruitment drive that targeted ‘stressed and vulnerable’ sixteen-year-olds on and around GCSE results day.
Revelations by the Guardian showed that the paid-for Facebook messages suggest to sixteen-year-olds that a career in the army would still be open to them if they fail to get their hoped-for grades.
Symon Hill, of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), told the Friend: ‘To attempt to recruit sixteen-year-olds who are disappointed with their GCSE results is to target young people who may be at their lowest and most vulnerable.’
Phillip Austin, of the Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB), debunked the army’s claims that ‘it is simply acting like other major employers in running a “recruitment campaign [that] applies some focus on individuals leaving school, college and university, as this is when they make career decisions”.’
He told the Friend that ‘the armed forces are not just employers’ but require ‘recruits to be willing to take lives and to give their own lives’.
He added: ‘Young people can be at a low and vulnerable point after poor exam results, not necessarily being in a good position to make considered judgements. It seems plain wrong to exploit this.’
The organisation ForceWatch tweeted: ‘Those with additional needs are particularly vulnerable to sophisticated marketing messages… Research shows young people with the greatest pre-service vulnerability are likely to fare least well when they enlist.’
The article in the Guardian also showed that new information released after a written parliamentary question by Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts revealed that the army spent £1.7 million on social media content between 2015 and 2017, mostly on Facebook.
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