Juniors and seniors have had to fill out a certain section on the Annual Notice, asking for permission to release student information to the Armed Forces.

Having this section on a school form is a bad idea, because some parents will circle ‘yes’ without the child knowing, even if they don’t want to join the military.

Also, not everyone who voluntarily or involuntarily signs up for the military is mentally or physically fit enough to be able to even make it through bootcamp.

We we asked a few people to add their input on the matter, not everyone had the same feelings we did, such as Senior David Maher who said, “I’m perfectly fine with this.”

He added, “if you’re physically capable to defend your country then I think you should.” which doesn’t match our beliefs but is a nice point of view.

Junior Brooke Stevenson added her own opinion: “I feel it’s unnecessary [and] an invasion of privacy.”

We agree with this statement. It’s absolutely unnecessary that we have to sign a form if we want the military to have our information. Schools shouldn’t be sending this off to the military and it should be the student’s choice.

There are students who agree with us. Senior Alex Breschard said, “If there is a draft, I’m moving to Canada.” We agree with this statement because we also disagree with the idea of a mandatory military draft.. Also, Canada has poutine and that’s pretty worth it.

Senior Emily Matarazzo commented, “[Heck] no, not happening no…it’s more my choice because I don’t tell my parents, but I feel like they should have like, both consent of the child and the parent.”

The child should have control over their information rather than the parent, who can make choices over what their child will do without their consent.

In general, we believe that this section shouldn’t exist. It should overall be the child’s decision if they want enlisting information from the military, not parents’.