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[Mr. Ouija]

Are America's youth too fat, dumb or dishonest to defend the nation against its enemies?

The latest Army statistics show a stunning 75 percent of military-age youth are ineligible to join the military because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law.

So many young people between the prime recruiting ages of 17 and 24 cannot meet minimum standards that a group of retired military leaders is calling for more investment in early childhood education to combat the insidious effects of junk food and inadequate education.

http://www.sphere.com/2009/11/03/70-percent-of-young-americans-are-unfit-for-military-duty/?icid=main|

[Kratos]

hahaha! and the American stereotype continues!

[Running Wild]

Isn't that why people enter the military to begin with? To get fit, learn discipline, get an education... etc?

[Gundam Meister]

meh the more tech goes up the closer we get to seeing more unmanned combat so it's not like being fit will be one of the key requirements to enter for much longer

[LostTruth64]

I've read the article, but being unfit? I thought the Military provide intense PT to those who are overweight.

I know couple of kids that is in PT for the Marines. They were overweight because they have too much muscle mass so they were given "special" treatment to lose that weight and they also said that they would put you through a lot worse if you have fat as much of your weight.

But I've been reading the comments and good god. A lot of them are saying to have at least 2 years of military boot camp after graduating highschool. Yeah if you want more drop outs then go right ahead.

Another I've read is that they wanted to increase school hours to 8 hours not including lunch. Again if you want more dropouts go right ahead dumbass. And they were military people.

The problem doesn't entirely rest in the parents, its mostly due to mass media and teachers not doing or not knowing how to do their jobs (learned this from experience, too many times).

One of the articles said something about 95% of students admitted to cheating at least once on a test is a major concern.
^You gotta be kidding me right? If you lived through the 70s 80s throughout HS then you would know your typical douchbags still exist today just in a different image that you may not like.

Most parents don't know two shits whats going on with their children's lives outside their homes. Hell my mom (single parent) had to fight the school system (and you were supposed to trust schools) to get a decent education for me and now she advocates kids with disabilities. And she pisses of a lot of school county's in the process 

[Fran Soul]

Isn't that why people enter the military to begin with? To get fit, learn discipline, get an education... etc?

"most" people

[E-Prinny Dood]

I've read the article, but being unfit? I thought the Military provide intense PT to those who are overweight.

I know couple of kids that is in PT for the Marines. They were overweight because they have too much muscle mass so they were given "special" treatment to lose that weight and they also said that they would put you through a lot worse if you have fat as much of your weight.

But I've been reading the comments and good god. A lot of them are saying to have at least 2 years of military boot camp after graduating highschool. Yeah if you want more drop outs then go right ahead.

Another I've read is that they wanted to increase school hours to 8 hours not including lunch. Again if you want more dropouts go right ahead dumbass. And they were military people.

The problem doesn't entirely rest in the parents, its mostly due to mass media and teachers not doing or not knowing how to do their jobs (learned this from experience, too many times).

One of the articles said something about 95% of students admitted to cheating at least once on a test is a major concern.
^You gotta be kidding me right? If you lived through the 70s 80s throughout HS then you would know your typical douchbags still exist today just in a different image that you may not like.

Most parents don't know two shits whats going on with their children's lives outside their homes. Hell my mom (single parent) had to fight the school system (and you were supposed to trust schools) to get a decent education for me and now she advocates kids with disabilities. And she pisses of a lot of school county's in the process 

It's overall true yet its messed up that the military are so petty now I myself is unfit for military duty just because asthma is on my medical records. Even though I gotten pass its effects for like 7 years, I'm overall in decent form i'm just out of shape.

Yet I see why kids now our out of shape and lazy, I remember kids that bitched because they had to do to gym class. I saw on this news show that parent want to get rid of dodgeball and competitive sports because it makes kids feel "left out and inferior compared to others". Yet most parents don't give to shits about what the hell the school is teaching their kids. I knew people who were great at algebra yet couldn't do percents and fractions to save their life. I even personally from teachers honestly say that what they were teaching us we couldn't use in the real world but we had to learn it for the finals. Then finals came around it wasn't on it but what was is the basic shits that most "defragged" from their brains to understand this new mess that they were forced to learn in school.

Another reason I see why kids just seem to get tired of working then try to scratch by and or cheat in school because they're overloaded. If you catch a bad semester, get all 4 core classes and then a teachers that LOVES giving out pages of homework they overall just use a cheat sheet to check. depending of your level of skill it can take a few hours to do yet before anybody say it's easy to get out the way it is if you don't have much to do at home. Most high schools get out around 2pm and to get a good night's sleep you need to bed at like 10 - 11 pm. That gives you like 8 hours roughly depending when you get home. then parents kinda force you get a part time job that's 3-5 hours gone then like 2 hours for personal needs and chores. After all that they're only like 2 hours to get all that done and that's if you're not tired from the whole day overall. In my opinion homework is just a veil to hide a teacher's shitty performance plus cramming knowledge never really works and burns out most people.

On other reason why you can't get in the military because you committed a crime is bullshit overall. Your trained to kill and do a lot of messed up shit to people for a justified reason. Yet if you stole something or go into a few minor violent crime acts and drug charges shouldn't hold you back. When you look at gangs they have honor when it comes to protecting their own and their turf. They're even somewhat structured like a military force. It like why toss'em in jail when you can send them to fight. They have the killer instinct, the honor and the drive. Overall the US been arresting potential soldiers since the late 80's. Look at all the gang members in prison that can redeem themselves from military service.     
 

[B.J.B.D]

Could just be Gen Y syndrome.

[LostTruth64]

It's overall true yet its messed up that the military are so petty now I myself is unfit for military duty just because asthma is on my medical records. Even though I gotten pass its effects for like 7 years, I'm overall in decent form i'm just out of shape.

Yet I see why kids now our out of shape and lazy, I remember kids that bitched because they had to do to gym class. I saw on this news show that parent want to get rid of dodgeball and competitive sports because it makes kids feel "left out and inferior compared to others". Yet most parents don't give to shits about what the hell the school is teaching their kids. I knew people who were great at algebra yet couldn't do percents and fractions to save their life. I even personally from teachers honestly say that what they were teaching us we couldn't use in the real world but we had to learn it for the finals. Then finals came around it wasn't on it but what was is the basic shits that most "defragged" from their brains to understand this new mess that they were forced to learn in school.

Another reason I see why kids just seem to get tired of working then try to scratch by and or cheat in school because they're overloaded. If you catch a bad semester, get all 4 core classes and then a teachers that LOVES giving out pages of homework they overall just use a cheat sheet to check. depending of your level of skill it can take a few hours to do yet before anybody say it's easy to get out the way it is if you don't have much to do at home. Most high schools get out around 2pm and to get a good night's sleep you need to bed at like 10 - 11 pm. That gives you like 8 hours roughly depending when you get home. then parents kinda force you get a part time job that's 3-5 hours gone then like 2 hours for personal needs and chores. After all that they're only like 2 hours to get all that done and that's if you're not tired from the whole day overall. In my opinion homework is just a veil to hide a teacher's shitty performance plus cramming knowledge never really works and burns out most people.

On other reason why you can't get in the military because you committed a crime is bullshit overall. Your trained to kill and do a lot of messed up shit to people for a justified reason. Yet if you stole something or go into a few minor violent crime acts and drug charges shouldn't hold you back. When you look at gangs they have honor when it comes to protecting their own and their turf. They're even somewhat structured like a military force. It like why toss'em in jail when you can send them to fight. They have the killer instinct, the honor and the drive. Overall the US been arresting potential soldiers since the late 80's. Look at all the gang members in prison that can redeem themselves from military service.   

Bold is the absolute truth.

The argument or an counter argument you will face is "If I was in a trench hole, I don't want to be with a serial killer." or "The actual killers will kill more innocent people then necessary!"

While that statement is understandable but dumb at the same time. Serial killers and regular soldiers are almost the same thing. Like you said they have the killing motive and actually done it before with no regrets and those people seem to forget that its been happening for years especially WWII and Vietnam

The only thing that I'm worried about is if when he send murderers/gangs in, when they come out of the army, they have military experience and can use it against us. That's the only thing that concerns me.

[Atomic]

I read about this statistic recently.  Long story short, it's untrue.  75%?  That's simply an outrageous number.  There's just no way.  I don't know where they got that percentage. 

There's some agenda here that someone is trying to push.  I'm not sure what it is yet, but it smacks of the same old spin. 

I've recently served with soldiers who had all sorts of problems before they enlisted, both criminal and otherwise.  Perhaps a criminal record will limit your career choices, but it won't bar you completely unless you're something like a convicted murderer. 

[The Pissed Off Son Of God]

I also read this and I don't think it is true at all

75% is just too outrageous a number to be legit