Addiction has a new face; the cell phone

Posted November 30, 2007 at 09:02 PM by Marjorie Dorfman

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Mobile

Taking the bull (or in this case, the cell phone) by the horns, Korea has become the first nation in the world to conduct a program to cure cell phone addiction among the youth. This comes on the heels of a Chinese summer camp program designed to battle Internet addiction.

The campaign represents the blended efforts of a civic group called the School Beautiful Movement, the Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion and SK Telecom. It is hoped that through research and education, the program will help prevent mobile phone addiction and that students will learn proper cell phone “management” skills.

Twelve elementary, middle and high schools were selected for the pilot program, which is intended to monitor via discussions the symptoms students experience over the next two months when they are without a mobile phone. Students will be assigned cell phone lockers, where they voluntarily put their phones, thus preventing their use during class time.

As far as the most common complaint so far of not knowing what to do with empty hands, surely they will think of something. Maybe they should all take up baton twirling; that is, until that becomes an addiction, and then, well, that’s a story for next time!

Read [New Launches]