High School: Won't give info to Military Recruiters? Forget about the graduation ceremony...

"If you chose not to participate, your child's name will also not be able to appear in anything associated with this school such as the graduation program, honor roll list, sports programs and the annual yearbook."

That's correct... If you do not want to be harassed by military recruiters, this public high school, Broadalbin-Perth in Broadalbin, NY will blacklist you, make you a non-entity...

-No Listing on the Honor Roll, despite achievements...
-No mention of participation in sports programs. How does that affect college prospects?
-Your name is removed from the yearbook, the center of school memories...
-And forget about going to the Graduation Ceremony!!!

When I was in school, the recruiters harassed me constantly, and it did not stop when I graduated. They would call me every month or two after I was out of high school, try to visit the house, etc. So if you opt out of that kind of harassment, the school will punish you for it... This is simply ridiculous, and an invasion of privacy, as far as I am concerned. I intend to email the principal and superintendent to protest this kind of abuse, and I invite all others who feel the same to email them as well. Think of your children being fooled by the unscrupulous military recruiters, and possibly ending up in Iraq, because the school punishes you for not allowing the recruiters to have your child's information.

rojeks@bpcsd.org superintendent

blowersm@bpcsd.org principal

Below you will find more of the letter... (It was sent to the parents of my nephew)

"Dear Parents/Guardians of Juniors and Seniors:

Congress has passed two major pieces of legislation that require local education agencies (high schools) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to give military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as they provide to post secondary institutions or to prospective employers. Local education agencies are also required to provide students' names, addresses, and telephone listings to military recruiters, and higher education learning when requested.

Under FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act), this letter provides notice to you of the types of student information that it releases publicly. This type of student information, commonly referred to as "directory information," includes the students' names, the names of the student's parents/guardians, the student's address, the student's date of birth and telephone numbers and is information generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. If you chose not to participate, your child's name will also not be able to appear in anything associated with this school such as the graduation program, honor roll list, sports programs and the annual yearbook."