Welsh Quakers work to end military recruitment in schools
Friends in Wales call for an end to military recruitment in schools
Quakers in Wales have joined with MPs, peace activists and other faith groups to call for an end to military recruitment in Welsh schools. The campaign was launched in Cardiff’s Temple of Peace on Friday. The campaigners insist that military visits to schools glorify war and misrepresent the reality of the armed forces. They argue that, in a time of high unemployment, the forces are deliberately targeting schools in poorer areas.
Leanne Wood, the new leader of Plaid Cymru, has backed the campaign. Supporters include Cymdeithas y Cymod – the Welsh wing of the Fellowship of Reconciliation – and CND Cymru. Quakers and Unitarians are among those involved.
The powers of the Welsh Assembly have been increased following a recent extension of devolution. With greater authority over education, the Assembly is facing calls to ban military visits to Welsh schools altogether. The campaigners are gathering signatures for a petition.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) maintains that their school visits do not recruit young people directly, but rather provide information about possible careers in the forces. They emphasise that they visit schools only when invited to do so by the headteacher.
Campaign organiser Sara Hawys Roberts told the Friend that a visit from the armed forces could not be equated with any other careers presentation. ‘There are bigger consequences than a bank coming into a school, or McDonald’s coming into a school,’ she insisted.
She pointed out that the UK is the only country in Europe that recruits sixteen-year-olds into the armed forces. Quaker Peace & Social Witness has called for the minimum age of recruitment to be raised to eighteen.
Rhodri Glyn Thomas, a Plaid Cymru member of the Welsh Assembly, said last week that many European countries do not allow the armed forces to visit schools. He added: ‘Far from being an extreme or outlandish position, the prohibition of MoD recruitment in schools would simply bring Wales up to speed with prevailing international standards’.
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