Lad's Army

It's no secret that being a part of any branch of British military defence is a massive achievement, especially from the outside looking in. Serving your country, in any country, is always seen as a noble and respectable profession. To offer your life - your whole wellbeing - to protect the civil liberties of your home nation is a huge task, one that should be never taken lightly. So why is this huge responsibility being given to vulnerable teenagers?

It makes sense that Ministry of Defence would concentrate most of their recruitment on people who come from a disadvantage. "I was born in (blank), but I was made in the Royal Navy" is one of the many famous recruitment slogans. The idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and bettering yourself, no matter where you're from, is an inspiring notion. However, this is manipulation - a form of grooming that the MoD uses to manipulate the young, bored and delinquent working-class into recruitment.

Like in the British Navy advert, much of the grooming is done through recruitment advertising, most notably through the Your Army Needs You campaign. Using the familiar Scouse drawl of Stephen Graham to talk to youths through Spotify and on the radio, to posting ads on Facebook the day before GCSE results day- which tell young people that "no matter what your results will be, you can still improve yourself in the army." The MoD have spared no expense in targeting the people who are likely the most confused and disillusioned with their life. According to the Metro, £1.5m has been invested into this campaign. This blatant manipulation of people who are desperate or lost is a venomous method to drive up recruitment - one which has been sadly successful.

According to The Daily Telegraph, applications for recruitment immediately increased. Within five days of the launch, 2,700 people had applied, rising to a record high of 9,700 applications after just three weeks of the campaign's launch. This sets an upsetting and scary precedent for how some of the most confused and vulnerable youth in British society are being ruthlessly and blatantly manipulated into service.

This is without the long-term effects of active service being factored into the advertising, let alone the mindset of a desperate young person looking for guidance. Awareness of the fragile mental health of those who have served in the military, especially those who have been deployed into active war zones, is known to be delicate. In research on mental illness in veterans, the Mental Health Foundation in Britain found that "only half of those experiencing mental health problems sought help from the NHS, and those that did were rarely referred to specialist mental health services." On the NHS website for mental health services for veterans, they also acknowledge that "the culture of the armed forces can make getting help for a mental health problem appear difficult. Some people may not experience some of these symptoms until a few years after leaving the armed forces."

To me, this demonstrates an abuse of power by the MoD, effectively promising a future of long-term happiness and success to people who are desperate for exactly that. Of course, many people are "made" in the service of Britain, but the very realistic possibility of long-term mental health issues and the obvious neglect of veterans' well being is not to be ignored.

The human cost of military service should not be dumped on the unsuspecting youth who are looking for belonging. I see the noble intentions of offering success to those who may feel lost and disillusioned with their life. However, taxpayer money being invested into manipulative military advertising rather than into education or local community youth projects demonstrates the laziness of the British government in catering to the

working-class. They are seen as expendable tools of war rather than as individuals worthy of support and guidance. A change in precedent is necessary to protect these people on the fringes of society, lest the British government continue to be accused of ignorance and selfishness.