South Korean Internet addicts are going to net addiction rehab camps to reconnect to the real world. Jump Up Internet Rescue School was created to deprogram severe addicts, who undergo 12-day sessions. The government pays the full cost.
During a session, participants live at the camp, where they are denied computer use and allowed only one hour of cellphone calls a day, to prevent them from playing online games via the phone. They also follow a rigorous regimen of physical exercise and group activities, like horseback riding, aimed at building emotional connections to the real world and weakening those with the virtual one.
“It is most important to provide them experience of a lifestyle without the Internet,†said Lee Yun-hee, a counselor. “Young Koreans don’t know what this is like.â€
Initially, the camp had problems with participants sneaking away to go online, even during a 10-minute break before lunch, Ms. Lee said. Now, the campers are under constant surveillance, including while asleep, and are kept busy with chores, like washing their clothes and cleaning their rooms.
Lee Chang-hoon, 15, was spending “17 hours a day online, mostly looking at Japanese comics and playing a combat role-playing game called Sudden Attack. He played all night, and skipped school two or three times a week to catch up on sleep.”
After climbing a tree and leaping to a trapeze (with a harness), Chang-hoon starts to get interested in the non-virtual world. When he gets home, he vows to cut back to five hours a day online.
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