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Debate Info

23
20
YES NO
Debate Score:43
Arguments:15
Total Votes:44
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Argument Ratio

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 YES (8)
 
 NO (7)

Debate Creator

Tugman(749) pic



Should Military recruiters be allowed on high school campuses?

YES

Side Score: 23
VS.

NO

Side Score: 20
3 points

I don't see why not. And they have already been going on high school campuses for career days and so on, so, I don't see what the problem is...

Side: yes
3 points

Yeah they should, but only the top 10 most expensive schools - in the spirit of affirmative action

Side: yes
3 points

Of course they should. Man highschoolers don't know what their life will be like. They don't have many options. When the military comes and tells them about it, they have found their calling. Plus, many other teens are not too sure about it and need that encouragement. Let's face it, parents tend to be against it and give discouragement. It's only fair to balance it out for those kids by having a military recruiter on campus.

Side: yes
Avedomni(78) Disputed
6 points

Could this argument not be used to justify any form of recruiting on campus? For example, why not also allow recruiters from the adult film industry? After all, "many highschoolers don't know what their life will be like. They don't have many options. When the adult film industry comes and tells them about it, they have found their calling. Plus, many other teens are not too sure about it and need that encouragement. Let's face it, parents tend to be against it and give discouragement. It's only fair to balance it out for those kids by having an adult film industry recruiter on campus."

Side: No
ThePyg(6738) Disputed
3 points

Your comparison can be used for anything:

Gays can get married, so why not animals?

Gays can adopt, so why not animals?

You eat animals, so why not humans?

You support the death penalty, so why not terrorism?

The military is far different from the adult film industry. One is a service to the country while the other is entertainment that is actually forbidden for children to watch. One is absolutely necessary in order to keep this country strong while the other is, once again, just entertainment.

Slippery slope is a fallacy my friend.

Side: yes
iamdavidh(4856) Disputed
2 points

Some, such as myself, would argue the adult film industry should be allowed to recruit anyone over 18 on any campus, since sex is not illegal, and neither is watching it, why not? I think it's hypocritical to allow only some. Anyone who wants to should be allowed to, and if someone does not like the industry doing the recruiting, just take the free pen and move on, it's a free country... well mostly.

Side: yes
3 points

On things like career day, anyone representing a legal and legitimate career should be allowed. Otherwise campuses are for teachers, staff, and students.

I think the complaint is that recruiters focus on poor neighborhoods.

May surprise some, but I have 0 problem with this. The military is an important part of our society, it pays excellent relative to what many in poor areas are used to, and the benefits and education programs are second to none.

Now, is it fair that poor kids often have no choice but to go to Iraq or Afghanistan and maybe die in order to get their education or kind of pull themselves out of poverty?

Not really, the wealth distribution here, and in much of Western culture, has become very skewed over the last 3 or 4 decades.

But saying that this is recruiters fault is like blaming kleenex for the cold.

The military can be a great opportunity for many people, and should not be kept out of any school so long as they are not interfering with classes.

Meanwhile, we as a society need to work on things like wage disparity, health care, and education costs,

and the "fairness" of who needs to join the military will fix itself.

Side: yes

As long as there are colleges vying for your career interests as well, I don't see why not! People who can't make the cut to college would make great material for a military career.

Side: yes
2 points

I believe they should be allowed.... If they allow others. It's either all or none...

Side: yes
4 points

As much as I want people to join the military and everything, I think it is inappropriate to send recruiters to a high school. A teenager, on average, doesn't really think for himself and if this recruiter goes to his school, he could just tell the teen how awesome it is and only the good stuff. The only thing is that this teen is not going to realize there are negative aspects to joining the military and he may just join for the good stuff soon to realize he made a huge mistake in his life.

Side: No
2 points

You're actually right. When my husband talked to a recruiter about joining (this was a yr n half ago when he was 2 years out of high school and went to a recruitment office), the guy sure left out a ton of data. If the recruiters tell you the negatives, I think it's easy for the peer to brush it off as "not a big deal to me," until they join it and are like "goddammit!" One thing I particularily remember my husband telling me after he talked to the guy was that he'd get like a $30k bonus at some point. Then I read his contract and asked him again (6 mths into it, out of tech school) and he said he wasn't getting anything like that. I'm pretty sad. $30k is a pretty hefty down payment for a house dammit. But ya, point is, they will leave out some information and they will also exaggerate other information to make it sound better than it is. It's NOT the worse thing to join, but it takes people with a certain mindset that will be capable of handling it without be pushed around too much.

Side: No
3 points

Absolutely not! Recruiters pray upon inner city high school kids who have no college options. Recruiters have quotas they need to fill and you'd be a damned fool if you don't think they would use exaggeration, omission of fact, or downright lies to fill them. Totally inappropriate for high school. If kids are interested in joined the armed forces then they should be able to do so without any encouragement from people who get paid to make them join.

Side: No
3 points

Why can't the option to join the army be explained in their career planning classes, along with all the other options available to them. Without pressure and with nothing else added but career routes and info about salaries etc.

Side: No
1 point

No. At such an influential age and with how strongly these men push for their chosen defence force I think it is wrong. I do however think it should be offered as a career choice in career studies by a teacher and the information given out on where these teenagers can get more information, or let the students know when the recruiters are coming to their area, of which they would need parental consent to get into. This is the way it was done in my home town , which was a navy and army town, and it seemed to keep everyone happy.

Side: No

They have no business there. They should stay off school property.

Side: NO