PET(4) SAR 26

Petitions Committee

Consultation on petition P-04-432 Stop the Army Recruiting in Schools

Response from S.W. Edwards

13/04/2013

Dear Sir,           

I am sending a note to express my opposition to the recruitment of children to the armed forces in schools in Wales.

I hope that you are aware that Great Britain is the only member state of the European Union that permits military presence in its schools.  Of the 27 states of the European Union, Britain is the only one that recruits 16 year olds to the armed forces. Also, Britain is the only nation within NATO that recruits children to the armed forces.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has urged the UK Government in 2008 to ‘reconsider its policy of recruiting children to the armed forces.’

I very much hope that our National Assembly will respond positively to this call in our petition for schools in Wales to stop the armed forces from recruiting children.

Yours faithfully,

S.W.Edwards (Mrs)