What is the US military's propaganda campaign to recruit teenagers to the military in the game world?
The U.S. military recruits teenage boys and girls into the military through computer games and e-sports, and it is reported that the Navy alone spends $4.3 million (approximately 650 billion yen) annually on this recruitment activity. Masu. Foreign media outlet The Guardian introduced these military recruitment activities and public bashing.
The US military is embedded in the gaming world. Its target: teen recruits | US military | The Guardian
According to The Guardian, since 2018, when the U.S. military faced its worst recruitment difficulties since moving to a volunteer system, efforts to focus on 'gaming' to recruit more people have increased. is.
Specifically, the military sponsors an e-sports tournament to promote its activities, the military itself hosts an e-sports tournament, or an e-sports team is formed within the military to promote a sense of closeness. Efforts such as these are being implemented. According to a spokesperson for Naval Recruiting Command, the U.S. Navy alone allocates 3% to 5% of its marketing budget to esports efforts each year, and that amount only runs from October 2022 to September 2023. But it can go up to $4.3 million.
Amid these activities, some military personnel argue that ``promoting the military through games is unethical.''
The biggest concern is the age group of gamers. Online games are popular with children, many of whom are not yet 13 years old. If these children are recruited through games, the skills they acquired through the games they liked may be applied to the skills of killing people, which could have a huge impact on their minds. points out The Guardian.
However, once children reach a certain age, they are more likely to go to university or vocational school than to join the military. This has been a consideration for decades, and when the U.S. military released its own video game in the late 1990s, project leaders said, ``We can't wait until we're 17. The children should have already decided on the path to higher education,'' he is recorded as saying. The game '
The U.S. military, which was caught between public criticism and manpower shortages, steadily maintained recruitment activities, and since the video game industry became active in the 21st century, recruitment activities have increased through distribution platforms such as Twitch. I am. Officially, the military cannot recruit anyone under the age of 17, but recruiting through games remains an extremely effective way to lay the groundwork until they reach the age they can be hired.
While recruitment activities are being actively carried out, groups opposing recruitment activities through games are also expanding their activities. One such group is Gamers for Peace, an anti-gaming recruitment campaign run by military veterans.
Most of the members of Gamers for Peace are military veterans in their 30s and 40s, and many of them are gamers themselves. As former military personnel and gamers, these people understand the impact that games have on young people and what it's like to actually work in the military, and they use games to recruit unsuspecting children. He says he feels aversion to the activities he does.
Caitlin Considine, one of the members, said, ``I have a 13-year-old younger brother, and I would be worried if he found out he saw a distribution or recruitment ad by the military.The military also needs to promote itself.'' I understand that there is, but no matter what method you use, it ends up helping the military commit murder,' he said, expressing concern about recruitment activities that feed on the curiosity of young people. .
Although there are voices of opposition to activities that link gaming and the military, there are also reports that gamers can play an active role in the military. According to The Guardian, some submarines and combat vehicles sometimes have control sticks that resemble ``game controllers,'' making them easier for gamers to operate.
There is also research that shows that playing games can improve perceptual and cognitive functions, so there is also the idea that games can help people acquire the qualities needed to be a military officer. However, real war is not a game, and you cannot completely escape the psychological and physical damage caused by combat.
In addition to recruiting activities using games, mental recovery activities using games are also becoming popular, and the relationship between the military and games is becoming inseparable.
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