The Youth Activists of Austin, made up of students from Garza, McCallum, LBJ, Dripping Springs, Waldorf, Westlake, and other area high schools, have been meeting once a week for months, busily preparing for their Students Not Soldiers: Demilitarize Our Schools rally on Oct. 1. Along with Educators for Change, Nonmilitary Options for Youth, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Campus Anti-War Movement to End the Occupation, and a host of other local anti-war groups, the kids are hoping for three main things: to make sure everyone knows about that sneaky provision buried in the No Child Left Behind act, Section 9528, which requires public schools to provide military recruiters not only with access to facilities, but also with contact information for every student – or face a cutoff of all federal aid; to raise awareness among their peers about what it means to join the military; and to provide upperclassmen with alternative avenues for employment or continuing education. “The general feeling among the YAA and a lot of high school students is that we want the military out of schools completely, but we’re going to make this campaign take small steps at a time,” said Will Martin, who founded YAA in 2004. “The first step is getting AISD to do what they can legally to limit the military. After that, the rest will be up to the students.” The rally is Saturday, Oct. 1, 4-7pm at Republic Square Park. For more info on the demonstration, and on how you can help, see www.yaaustin.blogspot.com.
This article appears in September 23 • 2005.