South Korea’s Educational Response to Internet Addiction

As one of the most digitally connected countries in the world, South Korea is facing the daunting challenge of curing electronic addiction.  Growing concern for the five to nine age group regarding internet addiction has pushed the South Korean government to respond with a new program that aims to stem the problem at an early age.

Smartphones are the new “toys” for schoolchildren, and thus, intervention must come early.  The Ministry of Public Administration and Security is currently revising laws to mandate the teaching of the dangers of internet addiction from preschools to high schools.  For young children, the program will introduce the kids to positive activities, such as listening to music.  “Computer exercises” that will ease a child’s eyes and bodies after extensive computer use will also be taught in classrooms.  Fairy tales in which a character falls victim to internet addiction will also be used in the classrooms to deter children from internet over usage.

The National Information Society Agency (NIA) estimates that 160,000 South Korean children in this age group are addicted to the internet through a range of devices: smartphones, tablets, or personal computers.  According to the agency, children appear animated and enamored with the presence of the device and distracted and nervous when they are cut off from it.  Some even forgo eating or go to the bathroom so they can continue playing.  A South Korean kindergarten teacher who conducted an eight-month study on Internet safety and education remarked that new mobile touchscreens, where everything can be done with a swipe of the finger, makes children more restless.

The South Korean government estimates over 2.55 million people across the nation are addicted to smartphones.  People with an addiction use the devices for eight hours or more each day and may experience physical symptoms such as turtle neck syndrome, which is caused by a constant forward position and a pain or numbness in the fingers or wrists.  The extensive internet penetration of every aspect of South Korean life is a byproduct of its vast economic development in the last few decades and remains a source of pride for the country.

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Written by Ying Jia Huang