Army 'recruiting children as young as seven in schools', claims study

A study, funded by a Leftwing trust, says increasingly young children are being given a "misleading" picture of life in the armed forces, with vital information left out and risks ignored.

The Ministry of Defence rejected the claims, saying much of the study was "incorrect and ill-informed".

It agreed that junior schools were visited by Army education teams, but insisted this was to raise awareness of the forces rather than to target children as future recruits.

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Britain is the only EU state to recruit military personnel as young as 16.

The study was carried out with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Researcher David Gee said the Army faced a challenge to find recruits because fewer people wanted to join up, partly because of negative publicity over the conflict in Iraq.

His report says: "Recruitment literature emphasises potential benefits: Career interest and challenge, comradeship, the active lifestyle, travel and training opportunities.

"It omits to mention or obscures the radical change from a civilian to a military lifestyle, ethical issues involved in killing, risks to physical and mental health . . . and the right of conscientious objection."

The report says children and adolescents are the main target groups for recruitment, with methods including school visits, literature and local cadet forces.

It adds: "As the pool of potential recruits shrinks, outreach to children is expanding, including to those as young as seven.

"Key messages are tailored to children's interests and values: Military roles are promotedas glamorous and exciting, warfare is portrayed as game-like and enjoyable, and outreach to the young is described as serving their personal growth and education."

Half of recruits aged between 16 and 22 try to leave the Army, while one in five of all soldiers wants to leave at the earliest opportunity, said the report.

The MoD said: "Our recruitment practices avoid 'glamorising war' and we reject any allegation that they depict warfare as 'game-like'.

"The Services do not target people under the age of 16.

"The recruiting process is designed to protect the interests of the applicants at every stage, regardless of age.

"Parents of applicants aged under 18 are required to complete a formal written consent form, which has to be witnessed by someone of standing in the community, before the applicant can enter service."

The MoD said there had been a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of recruits in the year to last September, while 2,000 soldiers had signed up to stay for two more years.