Frontline Digital Nation: Internet Addiction

Written on February 11, 2010 by Brian Dye in Society

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Recapturing a childhood lost….

One of my favorite podcasts I listen to is On The Media from NPR. I can always count on learning something new going on back home or in some far off corner of the world. Last summer I listened to podcast about a young man in the United States suffering from Internet addiction. He was the first candidate in a rehabiliation center.

Now, months later, another On The Media podcast follows up on that story by introducing us to Dougalas Rushkoff. He hosts Digital Nation which is a program designed to report about the consequences of our incresingly wired lives. He journeyed to South Korea to explore how the nation on the forefront of the intenet digital wave is coping with a population where 54% play internet computer games.

We’re introduced to a student whose grades have plummeted thanks to online gaming. His motherbelieves he has an internet addiction. The solution so far seems to be The Internet Rescue Camps. These two week facilities operate like a summer camp. They cut the kids off from computers and the internet and engage them in physical excercise and introduce them to a healthy computer lifestyle. To me it sounds a lot like fat camps back in the States.

Going cold turkey sounds appealing but I’m not sure if two weeks is quite long enough.

Maybe this is why elements of the program have been introduced to Korean Elementary school kids. Now they learn to read and use the computer at the same time in the first grade. Now, in second grade, they learn computer and internet ettiquette designed to help them learn how to use the computer and internet responsibly. They even have a song to help:

The chorus: “I am the guardian angel. I will be the first to protect. Though faces are unknown, it’s a warm neighborhood. Precious Internet friend, Netiquette.”

Awesome! You can check out the full Transcript and even isten to the audio. Then check out these other links on the topic.

TECHNOSOC: Internet Rescue Camps in South Korea

Frontline Digital Nation

then some other links