Apparently the media reporting casualties in Iraq is having an impact on recruiting.
So says Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon's spokesman:So, you know, you're 18 years old and graduating from high school. You're thinking about what you're going to do with your life.. Lets see... I could get a job and make some money. Maybe get an apartment. I could go to college and try and get a degree. Or, I could join the military, get sent to Iraq where I would get to kill people and possibly end up getting my arms, legs, head, or just about anything blown up or blown off..
"That's a factor, that we're a nation at war," Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Thursday. "If it's a young kid who's in high school and contemplating his future, what are his parents advising him?"
Mr. Di Rita added, "I mean, without question, when there's the kind of coverage that there has been about casualties - and we certainly mourn all the casualties, but they are covered, there's prominent media coverage of casualties in Iraq - parents factor those kinds of things in to what they want their children doing."
Let me think about that a minute..
4 comments:
Tom,
Oddly enough, from a house with two teenage boys, I find them in two camps. One from the Counter Strike mindset..."Gosh, I'd go and fight and kill." The other that would cut off his big toe to avoid it. Go figure.
I used to play a ton of Counter-Strike myself. It's a fun game, but just that - a game. After the round is over, you start over even if you got smoked the round before.
It's a great game for sharpening quick thinking and reaction.
Show the young man triage photos from Iraq. Tell him why we are there. Ask him if he's willing to die for that.
Video games are great, but we need to make sure that we emphasize that it is not reality, and is not meant to be.
You are right on the money here Tom. When the younger one cuts off his big toe to avoid being drafted....I think I will amputate the older one's thumb as well...this will keep him from fighting in any future gigs we get involved in and also eliminate his ability to play any of the video games that cause him to see these issues in an unrealistic manner! And for the video games...and unrealistic ability to relate gaming with real life...When he chooses the Turbo Beetle in the new Grand Turismo, and the round is over in a fiery crash, I shall also remove the car keys from his keychain!!!
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