Yesterday Student Career Alternatives Program(SCAP), a project of AFSC, accepted the offer from the Horizon School to spend a few hours with the entire high school class to engage in a conversation about the realities of war, military service, non-military post high school options, and how the war budget effects Atlanta youth.
The afternoon started with a viewing of the AFSC produced 14 minute documentary, "Before You Enlist" and was followed by a series of facilitated conversations and group exercises. During our discussion about the cost of war students seemed to easily draw the connection between the enormous military budget(about 1.9 billion a day) and the recent cuts in Georgia's education system(high school teachers being laid off, schools shut down, 78% tuition hikes for college students). Horizon students also drew connections between the war budget and the foreclosure crisis, violence in schools, crime, addiction, Marta funding crisis, homelessness, and innocent civilian deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Though many of the Horizon students already felt committed to find non-military post high school options, we had a lot of them thank us for arming them with new facts and giving them a deeper understanding of US foreign and it's effect on our communities right here in Atlanta.
We were thankful for the opportunity to work with students at Horizon and look forward to building our relationship with the school.
Before You Enlist:
Tim Franzen
American Friends Sercice Committee
Step Forward Step Back Exercise
More Step Forward Step Back
Processing the Day
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