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Internet addicts sent to boot camp
A young man climbs a pole while a drill instructor yells at him. Army bootcamp? No. A scene out of a movie? Nope. Your fate if you are an Internet addict? Maybe!
In the summer of 2007, the South Korean government established Jump Up Internet Rescue School. The camp, the first of its kind in Korea and possibly the world, mixes military-style training with group therapy sessions in an effort to break people's Internet addictions, according to a Nov. 18, 2007 New York Times article.
"Korea has been most aggressive in embracing the Internet," Koh Young-sam, head of South Korea's Internet Addiction Counseling Center, was quoted as saying. "Now we have to lead in dealing with its consequences."
Ninety percent of South Korean homes have cheap, high-speed Internet access. Internet cafes, known as PC bangs, are plentiful and packed with gamers. According to a three-year, government-financed study conducted at Seoul's Hanyang University, up to 30 per cent of South Koreans under 18 (about 2.4 million people) are at risk of Internet addiction. Of that number, according to the Times article, up to a quarter million display signs of actual addiction, including not being able to stop themselves from logging on or withdrawal symptoms when they can't use a computer.
To combat this, South Korea's government has established 140 Internet-addiction counseling centres, treatment programs at close to 100 hospitals and the Internet Rescue School. The school held two 12-day sessions last summer with 16 to 18 male participants each time. There were no female participants. The camp, which is free to participants, reportedly receives four to five applications for each available spot.
While participants are at the camp, they cannot use the Internet. During the early session, there was apparently a problem with people sneaking away to go online. As the camp progressed, supervision was increased. As well as a computer ban, participants are limited to one hour of cellphone calls a day, to discourage them from playing games online on their phones. The camp includes a variety of activities that are rigorous but also encourage a connection to the "real world."
"It is most important to provide them experience of a lifestyle without the Internet," said counselor Lee Yun-hee. Young Koreans don't know what this is like."
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