Inside A Korean Rehab Camp For Web Addiction

caffeinemessiah writes "The New York Times has a story about a Korean kids' camp for 'curing' Internet addiction. 'Seventeen hours a day online is fine,' said one such kid at the camp. From the article: 'Drill instructors drive young men through military-style obstacle courses, counselors lead group sessions, and there are even therapeutic workshops on pottery and drumming ... this year, the camp held its first two 12-day sessions, with 16 to 18 male participants each time. (South Korean researchers say an overwhelming majority of compulsive computer users are male.)'"

Fris!

I've cut back to only 4 letters a day now. I'm almost cured!

Re:Fris!

>I've cut back to only 4 letters a day now. I'm almost cured! Then I appreciate your effort in writing this post, seeing as it must have taken you twelve days.

pfft.

Seventeen hours? Amateur.

Re:

Yeah. They probably run Windows and the other 7 hours in the day are spent defragging, virus scanning, updating, and rebooting. If they ran Linux they would be Free to troll the the interwebs and advocate Free software 23.99976 hours a day like I do.

-twitt

Re:

Is it bad that I've done this? I mean certainly it's bad to do it every day, but every once in a while is fine, right?

Gold Farming...

If all the Koreans are cured of their internet addiction, where will we get our gold farmers? China? They aren't nearly as dedicated! I bet they only get 15 hours of gold farming a day! Sleep they say! Who needs that?

Re:Gold Farming...

Funny as that was, Korea is not where you'd usually find gold farmers. Korea is too developed for gold farming to be financially viable.

Starcraft as a national sport is another matter altogether, one that is financially viable.

So let me get this straight...

You can either be an extremely powerful wizard ruling your domain with an iron fist or you can make pots and drum. Yes, that's a terrific alternative.

addiction

addiction is a driving force in humans, you never get rid of addiction you just replace it with something less destructive.... i mean lets face it these kids COULD be addicted to crack instead. i think computers are a pretty healthy outlet for such personalities.

Re:addiction

Healthy in comparison to cocaine, sure... but there are other things in life besides computers! Jobs, friends (and I mean as in real, social, face-to-face interaction, online friends can't count for that), school, exercise, and a whole lot more... if you're on the computer all the time you can't do any of these other things!

Well OK SOME of those things you can do but it's not the same as more traditional methods anyways, especially as far as social interaction is concerned. And don't even TRY to say you can eat properly and exercise without leaving your computer.

Re:

but there are other things in life besides computers! Jobs, friends ... school, exercise, and a whole lot more

Like onions.

Yes, the other day I planted some onion seeds, and I am thrilled to watch them sprout and I am excited because tomorrow I will have to

Re:addiction

I can't have real friends, with real social interaction online? Interesting, since I have known people online, people whom I consider very close.. for upwards to 12 years now. Well all talk regularly, we all know each other by name, we all care about one another.. Hell, you can even have a face-to-face interaction if you want with a webcam, or throw in a mic if you want to bitch about text being impersonal. (It really isn't, unless you type like a wild howler monkey or something, and none of us do.)

My online friends have counted for quite a bit, and likewise they feel the same on the issue. Why anyone thinks a computer removes some of (or all) the humanity out of a person on the other end of communication is beyond me..

Re:

Is life really a series of addictions? I dont like that thought.
I am very easily addicted, and I definitely dont enjoy it. Being addicted to _anything_ wrecks havoc in a person's life, simply because you are spending so much time/energy on the thing you ar

Re:addiction

Is life really a series of addictions? I dont like that thought.

      We actually are much less than what we give ourselves credit for. We consider ourselves to be above our basic biochemical urges and impulses, however it's a constant struggle. Yet we choose to delude ourselves into believing that denying our desires to others somehow makes us a better human being. And we cast out from our society those that decide to act on them.

      Where is our intelligence? Truly you have hit the nail on the head. Perhaps you don't like to think that often you don't know why you act in a certain manner, but more often than not this is the case. We can choose to believe that we are cool, rational beings, however often the reason behind a specific decision we make comes from deep inside some primitive part of our identity. Anyway, this gives us something to blame when things don't turn out the way we wanted...

Re:addiction

I like how you put the word addiction in quotes, cleverly re-defining the word to mean something completely different from what the word *actually* means. And by that, I refer to the medical definition of addiction in the DSM-IV and the literature, which is used by psychologists and doctors (including psychiatrists) and pretty much the rest of the human race. Except you--you have a fondness for the methods of Lewis Carroll, perhaps?

I'll boil it down for you: Addiction is a psychological phenomenon wherein an addicted subject comes to focus on some external, directly reward-inducing activity to such a degree that it attenuates normal behavior, and the compulsion continues even in the face of negative consequences. In this usage, the term "normal" means the behaviors of the subject prior to the introduction of the external activity, but it also includes social and statistical norms, to some extent.

In other words, you're addicted when the particular activity or substance dominates your behavior, modifying the way that you live your life to a significant degree, and you don't stop the activity even when the bad consequences build up. An illustrative thought experiment is to take the addict and consider the opinion that his or her past self might have, looking forward in the future from the early days of use. If a guy who had maybe done coke once or twice had a vision of the future a la "A Christmas Carol", and saw himself five years later missing mortgage payments and losing his family because all he wanted to do is blow lines up his nose, how would he view the situation? Granted, this game doesn't model a lot of specific cases (such as adolescents), so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the point is pretty clear.

So, you see how the sex, air, and food examples don't really work, here. Consider that:

* I am generally receptive to sex, and sexual thoughts often enter my (male) mind.
* The act of sex causes me great pleasure when I engage in it.
* I would express disappointment at being denied sex, if I had some expectation of it at a particular time.

But also consider:

* I don't compulsively pursue sexual activity to the exclusion of working, socializing or engaging in other activities.
* My sexual activities don't cause large negative consequences to me, like my GF leaving me because I can't stop having casual sex with other women, or the cops picking me up for soliciting prostitutes.
* I'm pretty confident that my peers who share my general values regarding sexual activity (i.e., not hard-core Christians) would be OK trading patterns of sexual activity with me. Other people (caveat as given) don't generally look at my sexual behavior and go "Eew, that guy needs help."

Now, there ARE people who have sexual addictions, that have exactly that last set of problems I just mentioned. These aren't just people who like to have sex a lot, or who have high sex drives--these are people who are constantly trolling bars or cruising for hookers several nights a week, who lose their jobs after being warned about looking at porn at work and keep doing it. These are people who are ashamed of their actions, even in the company of generally sexually-liberated folks, and who often want to change their behavior but don't see a way out of it.

It's the same with booze, coke, heroin, gambling, cigarettes. Virtually everybody in college (in the US, anyway) engages in binge drinking, where you get blackout, puking drunk with your pals several nights a week for four straight years. Some of these people don't go to class, don't study, and fail out, while others finish up just fine (maybe not summa cum laude, but well enough) and graduate. When they leave college, some people grow up and start drinking more responsibly, while others keep doing it and end up sacrificing relationships, job performance, finances, etc. The bottom line is, some people who do it are addicted, and (usually) most people who do it aren't, a

Re:addiction

As a physician I am well aware of the textbook definition of "addiction".

      However this is one of those terms that eventually will be modified, as it has turned into a "label" and fails to identify the psychological conditions that usually drive "addiction" and addictive behaviour - anxiety disorder, depression, and bipolar mood disorder. "Addiction" is a symptom, not a pathology. Not everyone who smokes crack or shoots heroin or goes online becomes an instant "addict". Like everything else in medicine, pathology usually requires several predisposing factors.

      My bending the term "addiction" to include common, every day acts (which happen to stimulate the same pathways in the brain) was an attempt to ridicule this "label". Just as we no longer say that patients are "retarded", soon the term "addict" will be used less frequently among health professionals.

They should look at the bright side

Those people who become addicted to the internet and spend all of their time online will be less likely to breed. That should eventually lead to an "internet resistant" strain of human being capable of using the internet to accomplish tasks and then walk away.

so? what else is there to do?

ok...I am gonna get flamed.
So here goes.
Addicted to computer games. Games that let you do more than any gov't/religion/philosophy will
ever let you do in "real" life.
I've played many computer games. virutal sex, virtual violence, virtual GOD, virtual CEO, etc, etc.
Did "real" life show me any of these things? FUCK NO!
"real" life taught me I'm nothing. That I would be better dead, or not born at all.
"real" life taught me that being "different" is a fucking shit crime.
"real" life taught me that speaking out against authority is SO evil its called terrorism.
"real" life taught me that people who drink are more powerful than non-drinkers.
Real life is a joke. Real life can kiss my fucking ass.
The computer, aka simulator, aka simulacrum, enables me to do what "real" life would never
let me do.
I have learned that everything is possible outside "real" life.
"real" life is SO limiting. You can't do this without $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Money.
what? oh? SO you are a fucking dictator.
I see.
You can't do this without permission? WHAT THE FUCK? Since when do I need your permission?
Nothing but power games. Some people think freedom is here.
Freedom isn't here. It isn't anywhere.
The prisoners of capitalism, democracy, communism, dictatorships, moderators, religion, etc.
Humans are prisoners of their own BRAIN.
Humans are bred to be authority driven. Its so easy to boss people around. Its not enough funny.
You are addicted to computer games? Oh, so?
Your addicted to "real" life. Your addicted to systems of slavery that have been here for at least 10 thousand years.
Your still addicted to food, air, sex, social gatherings, sleep, etc.
"real" life is slavery.
Games allow you to do what you want. Period.
Good or Evil becomes totally fulfilled.
In "real" life you have to fit in with the society. Be it cannibalism, stupid laws, stupid festivals, stupid mating games, etc.
Do you want to know the next "real" disasters?
Nuclear war is one of them.
Most of California will FALL into the ocean. lol. suckers.
Japan, New York, South Korea : ALL underwater. Gone. Obliterated.
War, Famine, Death, Plague : They will return with vengeance.
I forgot the superbugs. Heh heh. The weak will perish.
you want "real". You got it.
Lets see how you handle "real".
When these disasters become a reality, no one will say "I was right".
No one will be alive. rofl.
You can keep your "real" world.
I'm so glad Washington is on the soviets nuke target list. At least something good will happen.
ahhhh...no more white house. bwah hah hah.
Back to the topic :
addiction to computer games is far superior than addiction to the "real" world.
Freedom cannot be found when the chains of Man hold you down.
Freedom is not found in Man, homosapiens, etc.
Break free of the human brain.
FREEDOM!

Note : You are all slaves of space-time, matter, and this universe.

A prison you can see and taste and hear, yet are blind to it.

You accept this prison as "real".

Grow the fuck up.

Five human senses tell you everything ? Yeah, and ten fingers can hold 10000000000 tons without breaking.

Limited human intellect can tell you everything? Yeah, and I can make money on slashdot. LOL.

Let the flaming begin.

Assuming the ass moderators don't delete everything here. I wouldn't be surprised.

Censorship is rife throughout the world. Including the USA and Canada.

Freedom my ass.

Re:so? what else is there to do?

You have a great point. People might actually listen, if you stop ranting for a second and say your views in a clear, concise manner.

That being said, I don't believe you deserve a negative score. I was forced to stop and think for a second.

Re:so? what else is there to do?

So here is the deal, we reinsert you in the matrix if you give us the codes of Zion...

Asia

Much of the reason Asia is obsessed with MMORPGs is because they provide a form of escape from everything. Students are pressured much harder to succeed there, and failure really isn't tolerated. As a result, children are disinclined to try new things, because they might not be very good at them.
The need for such treatment camps is perhaps symptomatic of this underlying issue - that, life is so dull/boring that a virtual world is far more entertaining. You can take risks their, and noone will think less of you for it. (Noone out of the game, at least)

TCP/IP over drumming?

Some clever kid is going to figure out a way to get his drum to transmit information to a waiting microphone, that will encode the data and upload it to the internet.

Treat the symptom, ignore the disease

As usual with addictions.

Folks, people don't get addicted because it's funny. People don't shoot heroin into their veins because it's such a swell feeling. Neither do people spend 24/7 on the internet because it's their kick.

In either case people get addicted because it's an escape from something. And unless that something is solved, they will eventually end up where they are now. You have to replace that addiction with something sensible. Now, what does that bootcamp offer? Drill sergeants and getting a kick in the nuts? Yeah, that's something I wouldn't wanna escape from.

Now, internet addiction is probably more of a problem than heroin addiction. Especially when it becomes a widespread phenomenon amongst youths. Generally, it means that there's not something wrong with them but with the world around them. My money would be on insane pressure to perform.

But to change that, we'd probably have to change society. And ... well, it's easier to just stuff those kids into boot camps. No solution, but gives us that fuzzy warm feeling we're "doing something".

Re:

The camps job should be pretty easy. Just provide the internet addicts with girlfriends.

Of course once she finds a way to escape, the addiction will be back... A lot of people who are "addicted" to the internet don't really have any alternatives that the

Re:Nothing to see here

Do you have to attend in person, or is there an online version available?