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But thousands of schools have a different program. Across the country some schools have turned to the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program because it claims to improve the school climate and strengthen discipline. This claim has never been substantiated. Furthermore, JROTC runs directly counter to the intent of anti-weapons and anti-violence initiatives and laws. It undermines efforts to demonstrate that violence and weapons have no place in schools. Consider the following:

• JROTC teaches marksmanship
• Students carry weapons or facsimiles in JROTC drills
• JROTC textbooks show weapons and how to use them
• Students are taught that conflicts can be resolved by the use of force
• JROTC has collaborated with the pro-gun National Rifle Association (NRA)
• A Growing Concern for JROTC
• A different approach is needed for preventing school violence

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Many JROTC programs have a marksmanship component as part of their for-credit classes. Students who sign up are taught how to use guns in firing ranges. Schools provide facilities that support these programs, such as rifle ranges and storage cabinets for the JROTC unit's arsenal of guns. The military argues that no "weapons" are used in the JROTC program because the rifles (air rifles and older military rifles that have been retired from normal use) - at least some of them – don't use "live ammunition."

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It creates a double standard when JROTC students are allowed or even encouraged to have weapons at school.

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Both real and dummy firearms, as well as sabers, are used in JROTC drill and Color Guard activities.

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The second-year Army text has 32 pages on marksmanship and states that participation in competitive shooting will result in "the building of self-discipline and self-confidence, contribution of individual skills to a team effort, and the development of skills that can be used for a lifetime."

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The Navy JROTC's second-year text devotes 45 pages to introducing the reader through text, diagrams, and pictures to naval weapons, such as guns, mines, missiles, and biological and nuclear weapons.

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A study by two researchers from the University of North Carolina (Making Soldiers in the Public Schools) found that in contrast to standard high school textbooks, the JROTC curriculum "celebrates or uncritically accepts the military's role in all circumstances." Although the JROTC texts contain sections on US history, including the history of US wars, they trivialize the human costs and other consequences of war.

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JROTC's message to students is that gun ownership and recreational gun use are okay.

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