In the recent years “Web addiction” is a dangerous phenomenon found in South Korea. Young people are addicted to this instead of battling alcohol or drugs.
Due to usage of cheap and high speed broadband has given a boom to the PC bang. Due to increased number of PC Bangs social life of the young is in the PC bangs. Due to the affordable prices it’s difficult for them to take their eyes off the screen.
With the universal access to the internet South Korea has acute mental issues compared to the United States.
In the recent years online gaming is treated as a professional sport which makes the users exhausted after playing games all day.
According to Ahn Dong-hyun, a child psychiatrist at Hanyang University in Seoul said Up to 30 percent of South Koreans under 18, or about 2.4 million people, are at risk of Internet addiction.
Students skip school in order to spend at least two hours a day online, usually playing games or chatting. Sometimes they seek even longer sessions and if they are prevented from this they show symptoms like anger and withdrawal.
In the United States, Dr. Jerald J. Block, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health and Science University, estimates that up to nine million Americans may be at risk for the disorder, which he calls pathological computer use.
“Korea has been most aggressive in embracing the Internet,” said Koh Young-sam, head of the government-run Internet Addiction Counseling Center.
Doctors in China and Taiwan have begun reporting similar disorders in their youth.
In order to tackle this major issue the government has built a network of 140 Internet-addiction counseling centers along with treatment programs. The Internet Rescue camp in which the camp is entirely paid for by the government, making it tuition-free and here the use of computer is denied and only one hour of cell phone usage is allowed.
The drill instructors implemented military-style obstacle courses, counselors lead group sessions, also there are even therapeutic workshops on pottery and drumming.
Another way to tackle this issue is that the researchers have created the K-Scale for determining the level of addiction and severity.
The government is trying it’s best to put across prevention of the internet addiction to make South Korea a better and the best energetic place to live.
Source: New York Times
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