Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

The Definition Of Child Abuse

OK, so this is fourth hand; me quoting a journalist quoting a Microsoft manager who quoted a "Norwegian psychologist" as saying:
 “taking a mobile phone away from a teenage girl is the same as child abuse.”
Um, hello, what planet of hyperbole is this person from? I feel my inner Victor Meldrew struggling to let rip. However, let me treat it with the disdain that it deserves and turn to the broader point that the Microsoft manager, Anne Kriah, was making. And that was that the upcoming generation of jobseekers expect, as of right, to have internet access at their place of work. If their prospective employer doesn’t offer this, then in her words:

“These kids are saying: forget it! I don’t want to work with you. I don’t want to work at a place where I can’t be freely online during the day.”

I would say, let’s define the word "freely" pretty carefully. If I am at work and I have access to the internet in order to do my job effectively, then fine. But if I am simply surfing the net (or spending hours on the phone chatting with friends) instead of doing my job, then I am hardly fulfilling my side of the bargain with my employer.
 

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