I want to join but my mum doesn't want me to so I don't really know what to do

Hi, this is quite normal and we have a lot of questions like this. Usually it is down to parents not having a full understanding of the army and what it is - you don't know what you don't know and you fear the unknown. If it is something that you really want to do, i assume you have looked in to it and researched it and the variety of job roles. Many people believe that the army is about 'boys, bombs and bullets' as, especially your mum would have seen on the news when the army was in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Army has over 77 different trades and each of them gains an apprenticeship usually up to Level 3. Many people only join for short careers now (many parents believe you sign up for life - the old '22 years' is believed by people) and once you join you can't see friends and family as you are stuck on an army camp. There's so much out there that dispel all these beliefs. If you can't change your mum's mind, if she would be open to talking to someone she could go to an army careers centre / office with any questions she might have. I remember chatting to a mum at a careers fair and she was completely adamant that her daughter was not going to join the army and she literally dragged her past my stand. I called out and asked her why she was so against it and just spoke to her about the realities of an army career. By the time i'd talked to her she was gushing to her daughter about all the things i'd just spoken to her about. They wandered off and the girl looked back and mouthed, 'thank you'. To this day i wonder if she ever actually joined but even if she didn't, a parent out there has a far better understanding about the actual realities and day to day job of being in the army. Good luck to you and just keep drip feeding her the information you find out. Parents just want to protect their children! I can say that as a parent myself - but if my 16 yr old daughter wanted to join the army i'd tell her to absolutely go for it! You can always leave and far better to do something than to regret not doing it later in life.

my mum knows what the army is about because my dad is in the army and she dont want me to join because she dont want me to turn out like him