An Army Disservice
The Frontline doc that I mentioned in yesterday's entry has generated many ideeahs for me. Here is another one that is, again, related to the U.S. Army.
Armies in rich, first-world, industrialised countries are having a hard time attracting new recruits. With so many options for earning income, with so many safe jobs around, why would one opt for the army these days? The chances of being deployed in dangerous zones has increased since September 11, 2001. Why would more people opt to serve? As a business this is a problem. If nobody wants to work for you there is a fundamental problem. So either you need to replace people with automation, make the working conditions more attractive or, if all other things remain the same, find an innovative way to attract new talent.
The army seems to be doing a bit of all of this. Automation - more remote work, more robots, more unmanned vehicles means less humans are required. In turn this makes the working environment more attractive as it is safer and less disruptive to family life - again see my previous blog entry. Nevertheless there are jobs that can't, yet, be replaced by robots, automation or some technology to allow them to be done remotely. In some cases you need to have soldiers on the ground, going door to door, valley to valley, over ridges and into caves. Trained to fight. So for those jobs you need a new way to attract recruits. In comes the Army Experience Center.
Children thirteen and up (younger for some activities) can go to a mall in Philadelphia and play war games. They can hop into a Black Hawk helicopter, an Apache helicopter or an HMMWV (Humvee) simulator and look for combatants, feel the energy of combat, the team work required in air assault and special operation missions. Cool stuff! These are very realistic games. This centre has apparently replaced a few Army Recruiting Centers that were shutdown and replaced by this Experience Center.
I do not imagine that the recruiting centres that have been replaced attracted many thirteen year old children. No video games and rock tunes. Rather you likely had some staffer sitting behind a desk with a bunch of pamphlets and a serious lack of interest. Nor do I imagine that this demographic was part of the mandate of the old-style recruiting centres. Rather they would go after high school seniors and college students. These new centres disturb me for two reasons.
First the army should not be trying to influence children. At thirteen you are still a child. We are constantly trying to push adulthood down to younger and younger ages. These kids have not yet had history lessons. They have not learned physics, biology or chemistry yet. Haven't had any economics and business courses. They, consequently, have not yet been challenged in new subjects and have not, therefore, had the chance to dream about the multitude of topics that might passionate them and lead to exciting careers and discoveries. It is too early to brainwash them into specific roles and careers. Much like advertising to children under six is theoretically illegal due to their inability to make purchasing decisions, recruiting early-teens should be illegal due to their inability to make career decisions.
Second....this Experience Center can't be compared to an arcade. Yes, video games in an arcade and at home are becoming more and more realistic as well. The difference is that those gaming studios and arcades are not in the business of teaching children how to drive an automobile, pilot a airplane or in the business of war. They are not recruiting through their games. They are there for entertainment (albeit sometimes in poor taste) and the children know it - as do the parents. The Army Recruiting Center is in the business of war. They are recruiting. This is not a game or entertainment don't be fooled.
While going to war may be necessary at times it is not cool. It is not hip nor rad nor down. It is generally dangerous and should be an action of last resort. Trying to influence thirteen year-old into thinking anything other than that is playing an alarmingly disturbing disservice to children who are just entering high school.
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