Following up on our earlier post about internet usage in China, we have this story, passed our way by The Internet Innovation Alliance. It seems that internet addiction is also growing in China, with many of their 300 million internet users being adolescents who spend several hours each day playing computer games.
It seems it’s a problem in Japan and Korea too. In fact, the Mainchi Daily News reports that “in South Korea — an Internet gaming powerhouse, where one gamer died after playing online for 86 hours straight — the growing gaming problem is being addressed nationally.”
In the US, Lavasoft says as of December 2008 online gaming site usage had grown to 86 million visitors. But like any addicts, they can join a 12 Step Program or get therapy.
In contrast, the reaction in China may be a bit extreme. They turned to electric shock treatments to cure youngsters of their internet addiction. They’ve stopped now though, after the media alerted the Health Ministry. China Daily reported last month that more than 3,000 young people were tricked or forced into a four-month long course, in which parents or guardians signed a contract giving permission to use electric shocks of up to 200 milliamperes. A website on electrical safety says that ventricular fibrillation occurs at 200 mA, and can cause a person severe burns, and severe muscular contractions that cause chest muscles to clamp down on the heart and stop it for the duration of the shock.
The shocks weren’t given as therapy as much as punishment if patients broke any of the center’s 86 rules, which included prohibitions on eating chocolate, and locking the bathroom door. These details first became public when former patients wrote about their experiences…online…and the news spread with internet speed.
Hey Hey, link is broken to IIA.