New York Times, by Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia
January 19,2014
China has developed treatment centers all around the country to treat what they call 'Internet Addiction', a top concern for Chinese teenagers. At these centers, Internet Addiction is punished by living behind bars and spending your days performing military drills, all accompanied by soldiers and guards. Should this internet obsession really be taken as seriously as other addictions? Should the United States follow in China's footsteps and spend money on treatment for internet addicts?
First of all, I personally think that this is a bigger problem in China than it is here. In the Chicago Tribune's seven-minute documentary, they show Chinese internet cafes full of teens playing games. One boy said he stayed in one of these cafes for three days straight. This issue is not as prevalent in the States, although our teens do spend increasing amounts of time scrolling through Newsfeeds. Treatment centers for internet addiction would likely not be very helpful here, and there would surely be debate over whether our funds should be spent on an 'addiction' that cannot really be defined.
However, after watching this documentary, my skepticism about these Chinese treatment centers has lessened because it is obvious that this is a huge part of Chinese teenage life.
I just think that it is insane how the innovations that we praised at one point can now be almost life-threatening when used the wrong way.
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