September 16th. 2006
Sent to but not published in the Boston Globe

I was horrified to read about the appalling misuse of high school student contact information by military recruiters outlined in David Goodman's piece (Reading, writing, and recruitment, Boston Globe, September 15th. 20006, A13) . Apparently a small number of recruiters have been using recruitment interviews to rape, seduce, or sexually harass the students who have expressed interest in a military career.

Horrified not only because this has happened but also because this is the first mention of the issue in the Boston Globe despite the fact that Associated Press released the story in late August. This appalling behavior by some military recruiters should have been front page news.

It seems to me that two procedural changes should be made. First, students should only meet with recruiters in the presence of a parent. Second, the law should be changed so that instead of parents and students opting out of having the information released they should have to opt-in to allow the military to receive the information.

And, of course, the Department of Defense should be vigilant in eradicating these abuses from the military recruiting offices of America.

And perhaps legislators should be a little more careful about adding unnecessary clauses to legislation. The requirement to send information to the military was part of the "No child left behind" legislation.