E-Addiction: A Struggle of the Ages

An article caught my eye this morning reporting a South Korean government crack down on adolescent late night internet gaming.  This CNN article reports the effort at helping those addicted by forcing the servers that run the games to deny 16 year old users access after midnight.

Civilly right or wrong, this 'electronic curfew' is a reaction to a real problem.  According to their NIA (National Information Society Agency), 8% of those aged 9 to 39 suffer from internet addiction.  Alarming stats aren't exclusive to Korea.  A recent study in North America indicates that 4% of our teens are addicted in some way to the online experience.  Dr. Timothy Liu conducted the study examining internet use among Connecticut teens, click here to read his thoughts and conclusions on 'PIU' - Problematic Internet Use.  This study has raised a storm of concern and a flurry of alarmist articles across the 'ishpere' (and even in some
old-fashioned paper-based news media).

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), texting, email, SMS, gaming, blogging; all can bring us closer together and help inform and enrich our daily lives. But just like anything else; moderation is important. The Dr. Liu study also indicates that those teens who showed a tendency toward internet addiction also exhibited serious problems offline, like depression and drug use.  At this time, its unclear which is the cause and which is the effect.  Is the internet simply another outlet for those with addictive personalities or OCD-type disorders or can it actually be a cause of personality disorders?

The author of 'Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality' Dr. Elias Aboujaoude says,
"When you start using (the computer) 30 hours a week, it becomes a container for emotion, It occupies time. The computer itself becomes a significant other, becomes a relationship." A great follow up read on this thought can be found here.
 
Warning: Personal Point of View Paragraph Pending...

I feel that we have collectively struggled with the social rules and boundaries associated with every advent of technology throughout time .  From the printing press to the radio to the movies to the internet, each step has led to socially alarming trends of change and adjustment.  As parents, as usual, as with everything, we need to monitor and guide our children through these adjustments.  Even if we are unfamiliar with the new-ness of it all, its important to be learning side by side with our kids instead of looking behind us with a perplexed expression wondering 'what the hell is going on' (or worse) 'what the hell just happened'...

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