• @dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1214 months ago

    It’s creepy that they’re allowed to text children without their express consent. Assuming that this is a real text exchange and that OOP didn’t wilfully give the recruiter their number earlier.

    • @Signtist@lemm.ee
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      574 months ago

      When I was a senior in high school back in the 2000’s I got multiple cold calls from Army recruiters. I have no doubt that they’ve moved on to texting, and that this is legitimate.

      • @meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        Yep. Cold calls, emails, texts, whatever they could get their hands on all through my senior year in high school and at least my first two years of college. Not to mention their tables in the high school cafeteria, at robotics competitions, my engineering university’s job fairs. Don’t remember how I got them off my back, I might have just aged out of their main target cohort, but my mom likes to talk about how she told them she was pregnant (because she was lol) and they never contacted her again. Do with that information what you will.

    • Æsc
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      184 months ago

      So they’re old enough to decide to join the military but not old enough to handle receiving an unsolicited message on social media?

        • Deceptichum
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          4 months ago

          We usually call that grooming.

          Recruiters groom children to kill.

        • ivanafterall
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          224 months ago

          Yup. I graduated high school at 17 and they were after me those last two years, at least. I was told I could have any job I wanted in the Navy due to my test scores. It was flattering and tempting.

          • @Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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            134 months ago

            Why didn’t you pick like Fleet Admiral and then decommissioned all the ships before promptly quitting?

          • norbert
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            74 months ago

            We were all told we could have any job because our test scores were high. Come to find out that was a lie and while they might look at what you want to do, they’ll put you where they need you.

        • Æsc
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          94 months ago

          I guess they probably do now because like 90% of high school grads have or did something that makes them ineligible to join and if they want more recruits they need to get students to not do things that make them ineligible and that might mean reaching out more than six months before they’re old enough to join.

        • Æsc
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          124 months ago

          At least you can’t get drafted before you’re old enough to vote anymore.

        • @Signtist@lemm.ee
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          94 months ago

          It makes perfect sense when you remember that the worth of human life and ethics aren’t factored in when people decide how the country works.

      • @dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        64 months ago

        It’s not about “handling” anything. Not sure how you inferred that from my post.

        Are you okay with army recruiters having your child’s cell phone number without their express consent?

        • Æsc
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          24 months ago

          When I was in high school our home phone number was published in the phone book and military recruiters called it a few times when I was getting close to finishing high school.

          I’m not giving my kid a cell phone if I think them having it would endanger them. If unsolicited phone calls endanger them they shouldn’t have a cell phone. They should know what information shouldn’t be given out to strangers over the phone, on a call or via message. They should know how to block numbers and recognize calls that are best left to voicemail, &c.

      • Ech
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        154 months ago

        Not really any better. Soliciting (presumably) high school students via their phone or via social media is fucked up.

        • @AndOfTheSevenSeas@lemmy.world
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          -94 months ago

          Point being the text exchange doesn’t require consent, as the profiles are publicly accessible. Nothing to do with whether it’s right/wrong.

          • Ech
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            124 months ago

            The comment you responded to said it was “creepy”, not that it wasn’t allowed. That it’s allowed doesn’t make it any less messed up, and looking to argue semantics in this discussion and divert it onto trivialities just paints you as sympathetic to the practice or actively looking to aid it.

              • Ech
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                74 months ago

                Calling out your bs diversionary response. This one too. And at this point I will stop engaging you and recommend everyone else do so as well, as you have illustrated wonderfully that you’re not interested in actually discussing anything meaningful.

    • Fish [Indiana]
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      94 months ago

      I’m going to college right now and I’ve been getting messages from recruiters lately. They literally text me from their work numbers now.

    • PlasterAnalyst
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      54 months ago

      Back in the early 2000’s I had a recruiter call my house asking for me, creepy AF.