Creeping Militarisiation of Schools

The Unseen March describes a deliberate yet undebated strategy to increase military involvement in schools. Learn about how and why this is happening below.

Published on Jun 22, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLt5yLy8nhB7KNXctzRN74lGUL5wXFCYxJ&v=OgJ83yYIR1g

Questioning the creeping militarisation of schools, this short film from Quaker Peace & Social Witness brings together voices from education, the armed forces and public life. http://www.unseenmarch.org.uk/

Unseen March Educate and Disarm- Quaker Peace & Social Witness

The Unseen March describes a deliberate yet undebated strategy to increase military involvement in schools. Learn about how and why this is happening below.

Militarisation in Britain [PDF: 210kb]
Militarism is not new to British society, but in the last few years it has changed. You’ve probably witnessed some of the following: soldiers in uniform on a train; the change in tone of Remembrance Day – from ‘never again’ to ‘support our troops’; Michael Gove’s determination to get the military into schools so that “every child can benefit from the values of a military ethos”.

About the militarisation of education in Britain [PDF: 514kb]
Since 2011 the government has slashed education maintenance allowance (EMA), disabled students’ allowance (DSA) and mental health services for young people. Meanwhile, £45 million of new military programmes targeting young people have been introduced.

The new tide of militarisation [PDF: 447kb]

Militarisation-briefing-thumbnail.jpg

Why the Department for Education is wrong to endorse a booklet on the British Armed Forces by Don Rowe [PDF: 305kb]
One of the voices from The Unseen March, Don Rowe, co-founder of the Citizenship Foundation, explores the issues raised when the government introduces uncritical learning resources about the armed forces into the classroom.

Spectacle, Reality, Resistance by David Gee
In Spectacle, Reality, Resistance: Confronting a culture of militarism, published by ForcesWatch (www.forceswatch.net), David Gee takes a fresh look at a culture of militarism in Britain. He explores the dynamics of distance, romance and control in three essays, accompanied by three shorter pieces about the cultural treatment of war and resistance to the government’s increasingly prodigious efforts to regain control of the story we tell ourselves about war.
David Gee is a writer and campaigner on the ethics of military recruitment, mental health of veterans, and the role of citizens in building peace and resisting war. He is a co-founder of ForcesWatch and former director of the Alternatives to Violence Project.

ForcesWatch(offsite link) scrutinises the ethics of armed forces recruitment practices and challenges efforts to embed militarist values in civilian society.

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