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Youth Organizing

KERPOW Youth Conference at Auraria Campus.

AFSC Colorado's Youth and Militarism Program is dedicated to ensuring that Colorado's young people have an array of information on which to base their futures. We emphasize youth empowerment, truth in recruiting, and alternatives to the military. To learn more about our program or to arrange for a speaker at your school, place of worship, or other organization, click here.

It’s My Life!  Alternatives to Life after High School

AFSC supports young people as they make decisions about their lives after high school, whether they’re college bound and just have to figure out how to pay for it, or they’re on the lookout for a different kind of adventure. Our newest resource, It’s My Life:  A Guide to Alternatives after High School, has information on what it feels like to make a big change, things to consider as a next step, and how to start thinking "outside of the box". We offer workshops to accompany the guide. Contact Jessi at 303-623-3464, x.4 or jquizar@afsc.org for more information. 

It’s My Life! is available from the AFSC Denver office at 14th and Speer.

Please consider purchasing a copy to donate to your local high school or library.

Truth in Recruiting

While we periodically hear rumors about the possibility of a Selective Service draft, many young people in Colorado are subject to an ongoing poverty draft. Annually, the military spends $4,000,000,000 (that’s four BILLION dollars) to convince young people that signing up is their best option to pay for college, to get health care, or to find adventure. Recruiters don’t mention that more than half of recruits who sign up for the Montgomery GI Bill never receive any education funding.  They don’t mention that as many as 41% of women in the military experience sexual assault. They don’t mention that the military’s a job you can’t easily quit if you decide it isn’t for you. 

AFSC has many resources designed to help young people and those who counsel them think about the pros and cons of a decision to enlist.  We work closely with Iraq veterans who can talk about what their service was like and give a fuller picture than recruiters do. 

To schedule a presentation for adults, call Sarah; for students, call Jessi.  303-623-3464, ext. 4. Give Sarah a call if you’d like to be our "eyes and ears” in your school to help us keep tabs on how recruiters operate. Recruiters sometimes misrepresent the reality of military life.  In response to instances of recruiter fraud, a congressional committee has suggested placing surveillance cameras in recruiting stations.

Arts and Activism

AFSC recognizes the power of the arts to change the world. As part of our work to oppose the poverty draft and offer young people information about alternatives to the military, we connect with visual artists, musicians, and slam poets in Denver. The arts offer another means of thinking about the world and one’s place in it, and they are an effective avenue for spreading our message. Through the arts, the Youth and Militarism Program supports the development of grassroots youth leadership, education, and activism.  If you’re an artist who’d like to get involved in AFSC’s work, or if you’d like to host a workshop at your school or club, call Jessi at 303-623-3464, ext. 4 or email jquizar@afsc.org. 

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