On soliciting children to kill and die

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?issue_date=06-22-2005&ID=2005103661

In our culture the line between adulthood and childhood is defined as the age of 18. Whether this line is arbitrary and whether an 18-year-old is capable of making adult decisions are complex issues beyond the scope of these few words, but most reasonable people agree that 17-year-olds are children and should not be called upon to make "adult" life and death decisions.

In our society any adult who solicits a child for, say, sexual activity, is rightfully deemed a criminal.

Since 2001, however, as part of the Bush administration's "No Child Left Behind" program of public education, any public high school in America that does not allow military recruiters on campus and does not give out the phone numbers of its students to those recruiters is in danger of losing federal funding. So ... in our modern society it's neither OK nor legal to solicit children for sex, but it is legal and acceptable to solicit them for training in the military arts of killing and being killed for their country.

It's called patriotism, adding a dark and bizarre twist to the phrase "No Child Left Behind."