Compulsory Military Training in Philippine Schools

Legislators in the Philippines recently approved a bill mandating military training for all senior high school students. House Bill No. 8961 requires all grade 11 and 12 students to undergo a 2-year mandatory basic Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) during which students will be provided instruction on the "ethics of service, patriotism and nationalism, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country, ethical and spiritual values, personal discipline and leadership, and creative thinking for scientific and technological development". Of course, this comes with drills and uniforms. Honestly, this is what military training is all about and "creative thinking for scientific and technological development" is simply being too wishful. When I was in high school in the Philippines, we were both required to take military training and perform service in the community through the Youth Civic Action Program (YCAP). In Germany, students are given the choice between community service and military training. And it turns out, according to a study published in Psychological Science: "Compared with a control group, military recruits had lower levels of agreeableness after training." Here is what the Big Personality Theory says about agreeableness: "A person who scores low on agreeableness may put their own interests above those of others. They tend to be distant, unfriendly, and uncooperative." I am glad I was likewise required to do community service.

Students in Germany who have chosen military training over community service do not develop agreeableness even long after training is over. Military training therefore has long lasting effects on a student's personality.

Above copied from
Jackson, J. J., Thoemmes, F., Jonkmann, K., Lüdtke, O., & Trautwein, U. (2012). Military Training and Personality Trait Development: Does the Military Make the Man, or Does the Man Make the Military? Psychological Science, 23(3), 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611423545

Indeed, there was a time that military training was valued in basic education, but those times are so long ago. 

Above copied from
jstor.org