Jets and tanks and science, oh my!

Portland Public Schools’ STARBASE program has been teaching children the wonders of science, technology, engineering and math on a military base for going on 17 years. This year, for the first time in many, some members of the school board rightly voted against the program.

The STARBASE program consists of bringing Portland area elementary school students onto a National Guard base in northeast Portland to help them get a hands-on experience with science and technology from military personnel. Children participate in such activities as exploring jet fighter cockpits and submarines, using computers to design space stations, and learning about physics.

The chief concern about the program is that of military recruitment of children—the objectors believe that the program, which takes place on a military base, is indirectly related to recruitment efforts. Some parents have even gone so far as to say that the program violates the district’s long-standing ban on military recruitment for elementary and middle schools according to a recent article in The Oregonian.

Though no direct recruitment takes place on the field trips, there are many factors that must be taken into account when considering the potential impact of this program on young minds.

Children, especially children of elementary school age, are like sponges. Their minds are forming along with their identities and possible visions of their future. There are a variety of ways that the STARBASE program can indirectly influence a child to pursue a military career.

For one, many of the activities described by children and the STARBASE website itself are distinctly military in scope. The base is littered with tanks, jets and other military vehicles. The children are invited to climb inside a light armored vehicle and an F-18. They are even consulted, according to the Department of Defense’s STARBASE website, on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers on military facilities.

Now perhaps this does not count as direct recruitment to the letter, but there can be no mistake that a child would have a hard time flying fighter jets and driving tanks as a civilian. The children in this instance are being shown a flashy military vehicle out of context, and if they get it in their head that they want to drive one, there is only one real way to do that—by joining the military.

This kind of program also plants a seed. It takes military realities like war and death out of the equation and presents the military as clean and safe. Even if a child does not recognize their surroundings as a military base initially (as many of the children have said they did not even know they were on a military base) that association will stay with them, especially when they recognize one later, perhaps in a recruiting office.

Defendants of the program say that it provides resources and education that are not available at the schools. This is true, to be sure. But that says less about how good or acceptable the program is, and more about how bad schools can be. That seems more like an argument for more funding and better programs within the school than an argument for the STARBASE program.

This is not to say that the program is all bad, or that it is bad simply because it is run by the Pentagon and associated with the military—the program does indeed provide children with valuable and educational experience that they may not get elsewhere.

Any kind of meddling with children’s minds at such a young age should be considered a potential hazard, even if it is something seemingly benign. We should be making sure that children are allowed to make up their own minds as they come of age, and not be influenced into making someone else’s decision. It also happens to be the case that a military career may have a higher casualty rate than others.

STARBASE may not be a direct recruitment effort, but the more subtle effects may show it to be such. A military life may be fine for some, but it should be represented as a whole and not masked or dressed up as glamorous and fun for all, and certainly not to impressionable children who may not know all the facts before setting themselves on a given course.