By Clifford Coonan
Published: 20 November 2007
The world's most internet-savyy country, South Korea, is hoping the short, sharp shock of the boot camp can help it to deal with a dangerous new phenomenon – Web addiction.
About 30 per cent of children in the internet-friendly country are said to be at risk of the condition, far more than the global average of 10 per cent. Ninety per cent of South Koreans have high-speed broadband access, online gaming is rapidly overtaking other sports as a national obsession and there are internet cafés, known as "PC bang", on every street corner.
Officials have been quick to recognise the problem and, as a result, South Korea is a world leader in treating internet overuse. As well as 100 hospitals providing therapy for addicts, the government opted for tough love and set up a network of 140 consulting centres to deal with internet overuse. These combine the rigours of a rehabilitation unit with the discipline of a boot camp to deal with internet-obsessed teenagers.
At the Jump Up Internet Rescue School, the first of its kind in South Korea and possibly the world, drill instructors drive young cyber-addicts through military-style obstacle courses, counsellors lead group sessions and there are even therapy workshops in pottery and drumming.
During their stay and treatment, the adolescents – all male – are treated like raw army recruits. They are banned from using the net and their mobile phone use is limited to one hour a day.
Koh Young-sam, the head of the centre, said Korea's growing technological strength had been accompanied by increasing overuse of the World Wide Web. "Korea has been most aggressive in embracing the internet. Now we have to lead in dealing with its consequences," he told The New York Times.
Typically, attendees will have spent at least two hours a day online, playing games such as "World of Warfare" or using chatrooms, although some say they used to surf the net for 17 hours a day. They even missed school to go online – a serious breach of discipline in Korean culture, which values education particularly highly.
East Asia is extremely advanced in terms of the numbers of people with Web access and addiction is a problem in much of the continent, not just South Korea. The world's second-largest internet market after the US is China, which has 162 million "webizens". In September, a man in the southern province of Guangdong reportedly died after playing online games for three days. Health professionals classify internet addiction as an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Adolescents and parents in their fifties, whose children have grown up and left home, are most likely to be affected.
About 30 per cent of children in the internet-friendly country are said to be at risk of the condition, far more than the global average of 10 per cent. Ninety per cent of South Koreans have high-speed broadband access, online gaming is rapidly overtaking other sports as a national obsession and there are internet cafés, known as "PC bang", on every street corner.
Officials have been quick to recognise the problem and, as a result, South Korea is a world leader in treating internet overuse. As well as 100 hospitals providing therapy for addicts, the government opted for tough love and set up a network of 140 consulting centres to deal with internet overuse. These combine the rigours of a rehabilitation unit with the discipline of a boot camp to deal with internet-obsessed teenagers.
At the Jump Up Internet Rescue School, the first of its kind in South Korea and possibly the world, drill instructors drive young cyber-addicts through military-style obstacle courses, counsellors lead group sessions and there are even therapy workshops in pottery and drumming.
During their stay and treatment, the adolescents – all male – are treated like raw army recruits. They are banned from using the net and their mobile phone use is limited to one hour a day.
Koh Young-sam, the head of the centre, said Korea's growing technological strength had been accompanied by increasing overuse of the World Wide Web. "Korea has been most aggressive in embracing the internet. Now we have to lead in dealing with its consequences," he told The New York Times.
Typically, attendees will have spent at least two hours a day online, playing games such as "World of Warfare" or using chatrooms, although some say they used to surf the net for 17 hours a day. They even missed school to go online – a serious breach of discipline in Korean culture, which values education particularly highly.
East Asia is extremely advanced in terms of the numbers of people with Web access and addiction is a problem in much of the continent, not just South Korea. The world's second-largest internet market after the US is China, which has 162 million "webizens". In September, a man in the southern province of Guangdong reportedly died after playing online games for three days. Health professionals classify internet addiction as an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Adolescents and parents in their fifties, whose children have grown up and left home, are most likely to be affected.
... el señuelo.
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