You Think You Spend Too Much Time on the Internet?

Think again. As read in the NY Times yesterday, South Korea, probably the most connected country in the world, faces a new national issue: cyberspace addiction. Children skipped school to stay online, some users dropped dead from exhaustion after playing online games for days! To address this issue problem, 140 Internet-addiction counseling centers were built by the government, and since this summer, parents can send their child to the Internet Rescue camp.

Participants, all males so far, live at the camp with no computer access and a limited amount of cellphone calls, to make sure that they don’t play games on their phone. On top of this, they’re required to take part in group activities and physical exercise to strengthen their emotional connection to the real world.

It is most important to provide them experience of a lifestyle without the Internet,” said Lee Yun-hee, a counselor. “Young Koreans don’t know what this is like.

Wow. That’s sick. But apparently up to nine million Americans may be at risk for the disorder. Really? Naaah. Oh, one sec, I just got a new mail on my iPhone.

Photo: Seokyong Lee for The New York Times