Before reading further into this blog, click on the link below and read the article, y'know, if you don't mind. If you don't want to, I understand. But it is the basis for the fine piece of writing that will follow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/technology/18rehab.html?pagewanted=1&_...
So anyways, if Koreans have to open a rehad center for Internet addiction, why hasn't America? I mean, aren't we worse off? I would think so even as I scan my high school campus.
It won't be long before parents in America drop three thousand dollars to see there pale-skinned and sleep-deprived offspring sent to a camp so that they can realize the potential their very existence offers. This is partially the parents fault; they must take some of the blame. It is up to them to discipline their children and set the example. Many parents are getting lazy. It isn't that hard to stop paying for Internet service or snip a few wires.
Something as pathetic as Internet addiction is just another sign of the times. This is what happens when the family doesn't put the family first. The children find hollow fulfillment in creating a new identity that is probably less valuable to them than a Schrute Buck (for those who do not know, this is a reference to The Office). These Korean kids, or anyone sharing in their sad state of life, have obviously never been introduced to the opposite sex.
By no means is this situation funny. If anything, this is like the beginning of the apocolypse. However, I cannot resist making fun of all of those Koreans trapped at a camp because they skip school to play World of Warcraft or read Japanese comics.
Once, they are in the camp, they placed on twenty-four survellience because they might sneak away to place online games. Their cell phone use is even limited because they might "play online games." HOW?! Last I checked, cell phones weren't quite that advanced. I know you can update your blog and check e-mail and even trade stocks, but they aren't capable of rendering 3-D Mario action like a graphing calculator. Not yet anyways.
However, I digress. I can just imagine once you get inside the facility. There is one kid that everyone is crowded around. When you go up later to see what the fuss was, he offers you a Tamagotchi from 1997 if you do him a favor or stay away from him, or both.
Now I doubt that this facility is reminiscent of a federal prison. The article talks about these kids gettingn to jump off of telephone poles and run obstacle courses. However, I think that they rehabilitation clinic should resemble a prison moreso than a Boy Scout camp.
All of the kids there are guilty of a terrible crime; they are guilty of wasting away their existence. We are meant to enjoy ourselves, yes. However, these are obviously not astute enough to differentiate true happiness from the deceptive and falsified gratification they have accepted as a way of life. I hope you all learn something from this.
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Internet addiction would really be aweful. Addictions to things that you need in life would be hard to deal with. At least it would only be a behavioral addiction and not a substance addiction.