Quaker teaching resource in Armed Forces Week
‘Where will you go when you are at home but… still there?
The Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) team launched a new teaching guide last month, on the reality of military recruitment, to coincide with Armed Forces Week. The lesson was produced in collaboration with Potent Whisper, a London-based rapper and spoken word artist, and Child Rights International Network (CRIN). The lesson features a new piece by Potent Whisper, ‘The Rhyming Guide to Joining the Army’, which prompts a series of questions reflecting the reality of an army career. ‘Where will you go when you are at home but in your mind you are still there, and everyone calls you brave but inside you feel scared?’ it asks.
A group of fifteen- to sixteen-year-olds were given the opportunity to ask the rapper questions about the poem via a Zoom discussion hosted by QPSW staff and Woodcraft Folk. According to the Times Education Supplement website, which hosts the resource, ‘The poem also raises important citizenship questions about under-eighteen recruitment to the armed forces and the way it is promoted to young people’. Students can respond to it as ‘unseen poetry’ to support their GCSE English Literature study.
CRIN tweeted that the resource is ‘perfect for balanced presentation of these issues in #ArmedForcesWeek’. Former QPSW worker and CRIN campaigns coordinator Charlotte Cooper also spoke about the fact the UK has the youngest age for military recruitment in Europe, at sixteen.
The resource can be downloaded on https://bit.ly/3gTPBEY, and the video discussion viewed on YouTube.
