Today, I'm married with 5 children. All of the boys were circumcised at birth. It may not be a good reason to circumcise every boy at birth, but the procedure sure helped me. Seriously, I don't think the practice of circ'ing to deter masturbation is necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure I'd just have gone ahead and jacked off continuously.
Masturbation can become a bit of an obsession with some boys.
I've heard this is often the case in the gay community today. Actually I quite agree with Phil but there is a whole lot more that can be said. The whole question of how to stimulate circumcised and uncircumcised penises is quite interesting, and in the end relates back to explaining why a circumcised one is so much more enjoyable in intercourse. My surveys showed that women found it far easier to bring off an uncircumcised man, and my own experience is similar. Easier does not necessarily mean better, and most men find that a masturbation technique which provides direct stimulation to the glans gives a far more intense orgasm.