Grannies' Stories

October 26, 2006 - Parent Teacher Conference Night Counter Recruitment Action

Members of the Granny Peace Brigade, Code Pink and local volunteers joined with United for Peace and Justice to participate in the counter-recruitment event on Parent Teacher night, a chilly October evening. We had committed to distribute flyers and speak with parents at three high schools: Norman Thomas HS, Edward A. Reynolds Westside HS, and Chelsea Vocational HS. The flyer in English and Spanish explained the opt-out form and the importance of having it signed and returned to the school. It listed some realities of military service, and provided websites for more information.

A five-person team lead by Bev Rice at Norman Thomas HS distributed about 150 leaflets. The feedback from parents and teachers was very positive. Every parent took a flyer and many stopped to talk to the volunteers. Teachers coming onto the building supported the effort, and a student teacher, an Iraq Veteran Against the War, was pleased to see the leaflets. At Edward A. Reynolds HS the leafletting team also received a warm and grateful response from parents and teaches.

Four volunteers at Chelsea Vocational HS distributed about 200+ leaflets. Again parents were pleased to get the flyer, talk about the military, and plan to sign and return the opt out form. Teachers stopped and told us they were pleased we were giving the info to the parents because the students rarely follow up when given the opt-out form. One teacher said he would talk about the issue in history class and others said that they would post the flyer. I also spoke briefly with the president of the Parent Association, who was very concerned with recruiters in the school. At about 5:40 pm, the principal came out and asked the women to leave or he would call the police. One of the women mentioned our legal rights and told him I was carrying the agreement with the NYPD concerning leafletting near schools. Nobody called the police.
Barbara Harris

And at Brandeis High School Lillian Rydell and I together with Ula Jorgenson from West Side Peace Action leafletted and spoke with teachers, students, and parents. All were very receptive and we engaged in many conversations about counter recruitment. Opt-out letters had already been given out by the administration, to the students for parents to sign. One parent showed it to us as he was submitting it to his son's teacher on Open School Night. Two students asked for UFPJ form as they "had lost theirs" and never got them to their parents. The Professional Development faculty member shared with us that most of the teachers in the school were against the war and that she had been following news re: the Granny Peace Brigade. She planned to photocopy the Opt-Out form and get them out to the teachers for students who did not have them. All in all...it was a positive experience!
Phyllis Cunningham

We all agreed this was a positive and effective action for counter-recruitment.

Sample opt out form and FAQs on our Downloads page.
For more information:
Ya-Ya Network, 212 239-0022, info@yayanetwork.org
American Friends Service Committee 215 241-7176, www.afsc.org/youthmil
Project on Youth & Non-Military Opportunities, www.projectyano.org