Feed children instead of training them for war

[JLM1991]

Exactly this. Cadets was my escape from a pretty shitty home life and it gave me something to get through the week for.

I owe where I am today to the Cadet program. I probably would be in jail or dead if it weren't for having a place to belong as a 12-18 year old.

This is true for a lot of youth from super troubled backgrounds. They do often get sucked into gangs and heavy drug use because it's somewhere they can fit in and belong. I'm glad cadets gave you another path,one that kept you away from all that. My niece is a fentanyl addict and it's slowly killing her. She started when she was about sixteen years old (she's in her early 20's now). Had she gone into a program like cadets I suspect the reality for her would be quite different, but unfortunately she was easily able to go down the bad path since she was barely parented. I love my step-sister, but she was never a good parent.

 

[Yrys]

Why not both? Gave food to youth and gave them opportunity to see something outside of their community...

I come from a shitty childhood (my mother expulsed herself from the RCAF when she put a fire in a garbage can in her place of work in Metz, France). My aunt said she was there in case of a 'communist invasion' in the '60. My aunt, Carmen Szanto was working for the Veteran hospital in Montréal).

I desagree about thinking that shitty childhood means drug usages! I'm wondering where's the data about it ?

I've got nearly drowned in a pool at school because 2 girls wanted me to start smoking (College Bourget). I've got a friend who offered me a 'puff' of his cigarette (half pot, half tobacco). I accept once by curiosity.

I'm still not smoking, using drugs or drinking alcohol. Of course my trajectory is not enough to make a generalized assessment.

But there's a sociologue in Québec (province) who came from a poor background (parents analphabètes) and got a doctorate in sociology (Jean Philippe Pleau).

I'm not an exception.


I think there must be a component of peers pressure. There's surely also a genetic component because of the receptors in our brain where the components of those things go. (A doctor said he wasn't hook on coke as he was only using in his vacation. But maybe he wasn't thrutfull to himself)

The man that I called father was an alcoholic. I told him that beer must taste like piss because I didn't like my first one! He laughed and said I had no reason to continue to drink that then. I took his advice and gave myself a limit on intake of alcohol.

 

[Kilted]

So, a bit off topic, but I thought of this though the other day. Do we know how many former cadets join the CAF (not including CIC) each year?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I know they try to collect that data, but i can't find any public data on that.

You might find this older report interesting Evaluation of the Cadets and Junior Canadian Rangers (Youth Program) - Canada.ca

 

[lenaitch]

Not too sure if this is the best thread for this, but anyway . . .

We need young Canadians willing to stand against Trump. It’s time to create a new national service

If we want to preserve our Canadian way of life, we must build institutions that bring us together.

www.thestar.com

 

[KevinB]

Both authors should be fired from their day jobs.

David Last is an associate professor of political science at Royal Military College; Thomas Homer-Dixon is the executive director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University.


To me, they seem to be interested in building a national socialist state simply to draw Canada’s youth away from the US.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Both authors should be fired from their day jobs.

David Last is an associate professor of political science at Royal Military College; Thomas Homer-Dixon is the executive director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University.


To me, they seem to be interested in building a national socialist state simply to draw Canada’s youth away from the US.

But a real fire eater

David Last

I served for thirty years in the Canadian Armed Forces, retiring at the rank of lieutenant-colonel. I am a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada (BA), Carleton University (MA), the London School of Economics (PhD, Commonwealth Scholar), and the US Army Command and General Staff College (MMAS). I commanded Blue Beret Camp in UNFICYP (Cyprus) 1992-93, where I completed research on the handling of incidents and worked with the Inter-communal Conflict Resolution Steering Committee. I conducted research in Croatia with the Peacekeeper Interview Program in 1994, and served as the Military Assistant to the Deputy Force Commander of UNPF from May-December 1995 (in Zagreb). From January-July 1996 I was the Civil Affairs officer for the Serb side the Canadian Multinational Brigade area (in northwest Bosnia). I spent two years developing courses and conducting research at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, and then served as staff officer for Counter Terrorism and Special Operations before moving to teach at RMC in 1999. My book, Conflict De-escalation in Peacekeeping Operations, is published by the Canadian Peacekeeping Press (1997), and I have published more than forty chapters and articles on peacekeeping and various aspects of conflict management. My final three years in uniform were as the Registrar of the Royal Military College.

I now teach in the Department of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada. My research interests focus on the management and prevention of violence, third party intervention in protracted social conflict, and development of security professionals for the management of violence.

My sabbatical in 2013-2014 focused on a project related to global security education. With colleagues at the Royal Military College and the Canadian Forces College, I have established a collaborative workspace for research on global security education which now includes 160 scholars from 25 countries. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-last-503888b/?originalSubdomain=ca