Should Military Training Be Included In School Curriculum?

There are plenty of reasons why a school with military training, complete with the necessary military equipment, included in its curriculum will always have more to offer than schools that don’t.

First, the obvious benefit of physical fitness from countless hours of training. Students get to participate in rigorous physical activities that are challenging and will definitely push them to the edge of their limit, especially if there is complete military equipment in the facility provided by the school. This also promotes a healthy lifestyle, as it drastically changes students from being sedentary to active. While all schools have physical education, it is not as focused on fitness as its military counterpart.

Another advantage would be the mental discipline that comes with being taught how to follow rules and knowing how to respect authority. In today’s times, it has become a thing of rarity to find teenagers who still know how to show respect. Time spent in school with military training might be able to transform students with major attitude problems to become better individuals. Furthermore, strict daily routines can help mold the students’ approach to tasks, both long-term and short-term, and make them more inclined to finishing them. This particular advantage also eliminates laziness and the procrastination mentality. Students are also given the chance to practice leadership and, at the same time, learn how to be a part of a team. They will learn how to lead and be led or working well with others altogether. This makes it ideal for developing the total person.

There is also the important matter of academic growth. Some schools that provide military training have entrance exams that yield results that can help point out each individual weakness by a student. That way, it becomes possible to address a student’s specific problem, which is unlike the more commonly known method of “one size fits all” applied in most schools.

There are also plenty of extra-curricular activities that students might find enjoyable. One of them is being taught how to handle, maintain, and use proper military equipments – an activity that could be both educational and exciting.

There are downsides to this, however. There are parents who do not like the idea of subjecting their children to such a physically and mentally exhausting environment. The parents would rather enroll them in schools that focus only on academic growth and provide ample freedom for the students to pursue artistic endeavors.

Most of the benefits one could get from a military training are not found in regular schools that offer only the usual subjects, such as math, science, and language. The choice, in the end, will still be for the students’ to make. It is them, after all, who will ultimately benefit from the kind of education they choose.