Leave My Child Alone!

According to the project organisers, the only way for parents to keep their children's contact information from military recruiters is to submit an "opt-out" letter in writing to their local school district's superintendent. To raise awareness and help parents to do this, the campaign, comprised of ongoing online and offline actions, is focused on the following goals:

• educate parents about the military recruiting provision of No Child Left Behind and the Pentagon database, and make it easy for parents who want to protect their children' privacy to opt-out from these lists;
• provide tools to parent organisations to demand that their school administrators and school boards fully reveal their privacy policy and adopt methods which make it much easier for parents to protect their children;
• provide support for the Student Privacy Protection Act of 2005 (H.R. 551), a bill introduced in the House of Representatives which reverses section 9528 (opt-out) and requires schools to first obtain parental permission before releasing private student information to military recruiters (opt-in); and
• facilitate community events to encourage local organising around schools.

The Leave My Child Alone website is central to the campaign. It serves as an online tool that parents and community organisers can use to identify appropriate school district officials to address with Opt Out letters, find other parents interested in working together, and support community events where like-minded parents and friends can come together to protect their children from unwanted recruiting.

Along with the website, the campaign is also using electronic communication to enable individuals to join the campaign. Interested supporters are encouraged to use the online form, to sign on as a Citizen Co-Sponsor of the Student Privacy Protection Act. Your email address will be added to the growing network of concerned citizens mobilising to protect children from the Pentagon.

The website also contains a number of resources that have been developed to assist with information sharing and organising. These include Opt Out forms, Host Kits and Adopt-A-School-Board Kits, as well as fact sheets, forms and flyers. Website link buttons are also provided, so that interested individuals and organisations can add them to their websites and emails.

The campaign encourages parents and individuals who would like to join the campaign to consider undertaking some small action to contribute to raising awareness and facilitating action.

• Host an Opt Out event (a gathering of any kind, like a house party or meet up) to talk about this campaign. The event may include watching the Leave My Child Alone DVD.
• Write letters to the editor of local newspapers and/or to local legislators.
• Bring some friends and pass out opt-out forms at high school's parents' night.
• Attend local school board meetings, and make sure the district is educating parents about their ability to opt out.
• Set up a table outside on the first day of school, and give opt-out forms to students to bring home to their parents.

Organisations are encouraged to become a campaign partner and help to spread the word. Teachers are also encouraged to become involved in the campaign by finding out more about the district’s policy. If the district has a good policy, teachers are encouraged to print the Opt Out form and make these available in classrooms, at parent meetings, community centres, and administrative offices. If their district has an Opt Out form that is not satisfactory, teachers are encouraged to read and download the campaign’s "Good Policies" document and let their school know about other options.

Youth, Rights

According to the Campaign website, the National Education Assocation (NEA), an organisation made up of 2.7 million teachers, opposes the mandate that schools turn over private student information to military recruiters without explicit written permission from parents.