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By http://www.ibtimes.com/japan-opens-fasting-camps-wean-kids-excessive-internet-usage-1401401 |
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In response to rising numbers of young people who are
pathologically addicted to the internet, Japan is opening up so-called
internet fasting camps to wean youths off the web. According to a report in
Vice.com, researchers at Japans Nihon University estimate that about 8.1
percent of the countrys students are addicted to the internet, meaning that
more than half-a-million kids between the ages of 12-and-18 in the nation as a
whole suffer from this affliction.Such a condition leads to various psychological problems,
including insomnia, eating disorders, poor academic performance, depression, and
even deep vein thrombosis the formation of blood clots arising for spending
lengthy amounts of time in the same posture. A government study found that up to
15 percent of Japanese students spend as much as five hours online everyday and
even more time on the internet on weekends.As a result, the Tokyo governments
education ministry will introduce web fasting camps to help young people
disconnect from their PCs, laptops, mobile phones and hand-held devices.“It’s becoming more and more of a problem,” Akifumi Sekine, a spokesman for
the education ministry…. “We
estimate this affects around 518,000 children at middle and high schools across
Japan, but that figure is rising and there could be far more cases because we
don’t know about them all.” He added: “We want to get them out of the virtual
world and to encourage them to have real communication with other children and
adults. …In the United States and China, countries with massive online usage and
penetration, youths are also at risk for addiction. … China has already established such camps, but these
have been authoritarian and even brutal institutions.In Japan, officials are
apparently taking a more humane approach to their web addicts, by encouraging
kids to spend more time outside, playing sports and other healthy alternatives
to the internet….
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