JROTC: This is never going to work
Wouldn't a martial-arts program be a better option?(Photo of Master Jung from Koreanmartialarts.com
Okay, I'm all for getting rid of JROTC in the public schools. But I also recognize that there are some kids -- about 1,600 -- who like the program and get something out of it.
So the School Board has been looking around for an alternative -- and I'm sorry, but this is never going to work.
Ethnic studies is a great idea, and ought to be part of the SFUSD curriculum. But the kids and parents who support JROTC aren't going to see it as a viable alternative. And it's pretty clear why.
Ethnic studies sounds like a class. JROTC is popular in some circles because it's not just classroom education. It's physical activity, it's fun, it's leadership development and it has a community-building element. The most popular part of the program, I'm told, is the marching band.
You need something that offers the same sort of attractions, but isn't a military recruitment tool. And it seems to me there are plenty of options.
School Board members have talked about trying to find a program that feeds into the San Francisco Fire Department or even the Police Department. I don't love the police option, but hey: Better to get kids interested in law enforcement than in the Army (and it might actually help San Francisco recruit some local people with community roots to be police officers). And a junior firefighter-paramedic program would have all kinds of benefits. The district hasn't been able to work anything out with those options, though, in part because there's no existing infrastucture; you can't send 14-year-olds to the Police Academy, and the city's paramedic classes are limited to people 18 and older.
But there's another solution, too -- and it seems pretty obvious to me.
San Francisco already has at least 50 good martial-arts schools and clubs that teach kids. I've been involved in Tae Kwon Do for almost 20 years, and my son is now a student at the Korean Martial Arts Center , and I can tell you that these classes offer physical fitness, confidence building, leadership development, and create communities and team spirit. You get uniforms. You learn to respect yourself and others. Good programs, and there are plenty around, teach conflict resolution and nonviolence.
And it's fun and really cool.
Best of all, the infrastructure already exists.
The SFUSD spends $800,000 a year on JROTC. Most martial arts clubs in San Francisco are financially modest operations, and most instructors aren't in if for the money. Getting a group of local martial arts clubs to set up satellite programs in the schools would be cheap. (The schools already have facilities and insurance, and the uniforms and equipment are -- by the standards of what we spend on JROTC -- inexpensive.
The kids now get phys ed credit for JROTC -- another big attraction -- but that's a stretch anyway, since the state now requires phys ed teachers to have a California teaching certificate and none of the JROTC instructors qualify. Figure out a way around that for martial-arts instructors and you'd have it made.
I called Jane Kim, a school board member who's on the curriculum committee, and she told me she was a little startled by the Ethnic Studies proposal, too. "We've been pushing the district to create an Ethnic Studies plan for a long time now," she said, "but I was surprised to see that they combined that with replacing JROTC." She's a little dubious about this plan, too.
"We're going to keep the marching band, though," she said. "That's a given."
Which is a start.
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Comments (4)
Interesting that there is such an interest in ethics. If you check the JROTC curriculum you might be surprised to see that a significant portion is devoted to ethics. Funny, each time you seem to create a program to replace JROTC you just reinvent JROTC.
Posted by Tom | June 10, 2008 06:34 PM
A police feeder program sounds like a good idea. If there is no existing infrastructure, why the hell not make some! It would give kids leadership and teamwork training as well as give them a viable career as a police officer in the future. Sounds like a win to me. Why are we not trying to put this infrastructure in place?
Posted by Jon | June 11, 2008 06:12 AM
I'd long supported the notion of a JCOPC, connecting the SFUSD and the SFPD because I'd rather see kids learning to make their community better than mindlessly following orders to destroy the communities of others.
There would need to be a proviso that no cop with a disciplinary record would be allowed anywhere near SFUSD students and that the students could not be involved in narcotics or vice, which is where the rot in the SFPD resides. There would also need to be a firewall between the SFPD using JCOPC kids as intelligence sources at schools.
Agreed on the martial arts , Tim. When I was a kid, my parents made me take judo. At first I was a scrawny runt and hated it, but the day that I rose from yellow to orange belt at age 10 after defeating all 20 kids in my class, I began to feel confident where before I was not. But martial arts does not instill espirit d'corps as JROTC does, as they are generally one on one activities rather than traditional teamwork.
I do think that most folks are of one mind that JROTC needs to be replaced. But supporters are wily, and we need to unlock walk through a few more closed doors before we can end it. Unfortunately, in another online publication, some writers from the hard left are clueless as to what is required to politically navigate the minefield.
-marc
Posted by marc salomon | June 11, 2008 07:39 AM
there's clearly no one single solution especially as an alternative to a program such as JROTC that has an extraordinary institutional infrastructure. it sounds crazy (maybe not here in SF though) but something that the school should consider is circus arts. for a year in the late 90's i worked for a circus that targeted at-risk youth in its 'apprentice' program. the benefits it offered them were similar to what i hear about the JROTC - teamwork, physical challenge, and leadership development. while this option certainly wouldn't work for everyone it would offer youngsters a fun alternative without the inherent authoritarianism of the military.
Posted by alex | June 11, 2008 08:22 AM