Posted by Eugene Volokh:
<a href="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/mash/faq/";>Corporal Klinger</a> should have
thought of that!
According to [1]AFP,
A growing number of conscripts have to be dismissed from Finland's
armed forces every year due to an internet addiction that makes
them unsuited for service, an official said on Tuesday.
"It's an increasing problem. More and more young people are always
on the internet day and night. They get up around noon and have
neither friends nor hobbies. When they get into the army, it's a
shock to them," Jyrki Kivelae, head of the conscription division at
the Finnish defence staff, said. . . .
"It's really a shock to them, they are physically too weak to do
the service, and mentally unprepared to deal with people directly
and not through the internet," Kivelae said.
Finland's defence relies solely on conscripted forces, with nearly
30,000 male Finns undergoing six to 12 months of compulsory
military training every year . . . .
[S]ome nine percent [of conscripts] are dismissed due to medical
reasons, including internet addiction that is now classified as a
temporary mental condition, Kivelae noted.
"So we send them back home, where they can stay for two or three
years more, then they can come back to the army later when they are
more grown-up and able to carry out their duty."
Yeah, right, Internet addiction, that's the ticket. My conjecture: The
Finnish military doesn't really need as much manpower as it's getting;
it figures that lazy soldiers are more trouble than they're worth, and
when "a temporary mental condition" such as "internet addiction" can
be blamed, everyone is happy. Somehow I think that if there was a war
on, this dread disease could be cured with remarkable ease.
For more of my views on Internet addiction, see [2]here.
References
1. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/04/1091557883381.html?oneclick=true
2. http://www.techcentralstation.com/041002D.html
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