The club circulated the following press release today:

Students from Hawaii’s public schools are asking for their right to protect their privacy from the military, as specified by Federal law.  Currently, students are given a vague notification of privacy rights that has no mention of the release of their private information to military recruiters.  This year, the Department of Education stopped giving out the military opt-out forms and instead issued an ambiguous “bookmark” to a DOE website to get unsaid information.  The present notification process fails to effectively inform parents and students of this release of private data, or their right of nondisclosure.

This week, Farrington High School’s Peace & Justice Club will be making opt-out forms and a petition available all this week for “Gov Luv Week” during lunch at their school.  The petition requests the Board of Education for clearer communication that assures that their right to privacy may be protected, and that any costs for this should not be taken from their education, but paid for by the military, since they are requesting it.  The club has also produced a public service announcement with the support of Hawaii Peace & Justice to raise awareness about the issue of opting-out.

— Alia Wong