War is Scary

I talked to a classroom of high school seniors today and asked them, in their opinion, why their generation is less interested in serving in the military.  I told them about the recruiting crisis across all of DoD and asked them, specifically because they were the target audience for military recruiters, why they believe their demographic isn’t raising their right hand to serve.  I had the ability to get it straight from the source, so I did. 

Keep in mind, this is a VERY small sample, but I think it has value.  Some of their answers will not surprise you.  Some of them will.

“War is scary.”  Yep.  You’re right.  I agreed with that student.  I filled them in a little on my background and told that student they weren’t wrong.  War is, in fact, scary.  However, I did remind the class that even though the US has been directly involved in war their entire lives, we are not actively involved at present.  Unfortunately, that is all they have known their entire lives; Afghanistan and Iraq.  Both began before these kids were born. 

“We have been told college is the best option.”  For some it is.  For others it isn’t.  As a nation, we’ve been having the very public discussions about overvaluing college education, as well as the option of going to trade schools, and why college isn’t for everyone.  None of that is new.

“We see the way veterans are treated when they get out.  Why would I volunteer to serve if I know that is going to happen?”  Whoa.  That one stopped me.  Through social media especially, these high school students are aware of the challenges veterans face on a daily basis.  Specifically, they brought up homelessness and veteran suicide.  It is great they are aware of those issues and they are concerned about them, but it having at least some impact on their willingness to serve is pretty telling.  It is also something DoD and the VA probably aren’t considering…the impact on future generations of service members.

“The division in this country makes people less patriotic and less willing to serve a divided country.”  Hugely profound.  This person offered no clue to their political leanings.  I have no idea if they were liberal or conservative.  But they readily see the division and feel the impact beyond what most of us even think about.  This is one all of the “adults in the room” need to think hard about.  What we all say matters.  I’m not saying to curtail civil discussion or discourse, but the growing divide is impacting our youth in ways we have not considered, and the “adults” are the ones responsible. 

So, there you have it.  It would be easy to say “from the mouths of babes…” but these are not children.  These are America’s youth on the cusp of adulthood.  We need to listen to them.  Our security my depend on it.

Afterall, War is Scary.