 |
A 15-year-old middle schoolboy strangled his mother earlier this week in a fit of anger during an argument over his playing of violent computer games and then took his own life, sounding a wake-up call to the whole nation.
Game addiction has long been a social issue in Korea where the game industry is thriving on an advanced Internet infrastructure.
Many middle and high school boys lock themselves in their room at home or spend hours in a “PC bang” (Internet cafe) to play highly-addictive computer games. The crimes committed by teen game addicts are increasing and turning more violent.
Online games are evolving everyday with better sound effects, fancier 3D graphics and updated structures ㅡ fatal temptation teens find hard to resist. For many of them, the games may be the only exit from their stifling school life.
The middle school boy, who killed his 43-year-old mother in Busan, Tuesday, was found to have been addicted to a first person shooter (FPS), a violent combat game where the character uses guns and weapons, according to the police.
"We found that he played computer games all the time except for eating meals or going to the bathroom," a police officer said. "Lee's sister, who found her mother's body, said Lee and his mother often had disputes over playing computer games."
Lee had gone through counseling several times, but it didn’t work.
It is the third game addiction-related crime this year. In February, a man in his 20s murdered his mother who scolded him for playing computer games and in March, a game-addicted couple starved their three-month-old daughter to death.
According to the statistics of the National Information Society Agency (NIA), the rate of those hooked on the Internet in Korea is 8.5 percent, with the number of addicts at about 1.9 million. The rate is even higher among teenagers at 12.8 percent and children from single parent families, including Lee, are more vulnerable to Internet addiction, at a rate of 16.6 percent.
Experts said the Internet and game addiction are a sort of disease and should be treated properly as such.
Kang Ung-gu of Seoul National University College of Medicine said teenagers' Internet addiction should be treated in the early stages as it might accompany depression. "In most cases, the addiction comes from multiple causes and we use medication and behavioral therapy," Kang said.
Lee Eun-sil, a researcher at the Internet Addiction Prevention Center of NIA, said, "Internet and Internet game addiction is a serious disease. It needs treatment from experts and should not be considered as just a personal problem. Children who come to the center are the cared for ones. Some parents from broken homes do not even notice their children’s addiction.”
The government is taking a series of steps to help treat these young game addicts. Experts say that parents need to more actively seek help from consultants or professional institutes that provide various programs designed to treat the problem.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also said the number of teenagers who received counseling for game immersion jumped to 45,476 in 2009 from 3,440 in 2007.
A 14-year-old a middle school student in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Yoo, is one of the game addicts who are enrolled in a program to cure the problem, offered by the state-run Korea Youth Counseling Institute.
The boy, who used to play games for more than 10 hours on weekends, said he realized that he had difficulties controlling his temper and could not stop thinking about the online shooting game, “Sudden Attack.”
“After I realized that I was addicted to the game, I asked for help from my mother. And we’ve decided to join a treatment program,” he said. “I participated in the ‘Rescue School’ program which requires young game addicts to stay for 12 days. It was a great help.”
Lee Yoon-hee, a counselor at the institute, said, “The addicted person’s will is most important in overcoming the problem. Also, parents need to pay greater attention to their kids.”
She said that not all students who joined the program have been successfully treated. “It’s not easy to cure the addiction. Less than 50 percent of participants in the program have been cured.”
There are several measures to pull youths away from online games. The "fatigue system" makes virtual character grow slowly when teenagers play a game too long. A stronger measure is the "shutdown system," not allowing people under the age of 14 to play games after midnight, which is currently applied to three games as an example.
Other than the NIA’s center, Seoul City runs two “I Will Centers” in Boramae and Changdong, to provide free consultation for youngsters or their parents on Internet addiction.
컴퓨터 게임 중독 위험 수위
금주 초 한 중학교 남학생 (15)이 폭력성 게임을 하는 것 때문에 말다툼하다 벌떡 화를 내면서 어머니를 목 졸라 죽였으며 그리고 나서 자신의 목숨도 끊어 전 국민에 경종을 울렸다.
게임 중독은 인터넷 기반이 잘 되어 게임산업이 번창하는 한국에서 사회문제가 된지 오래됐다.
많은 중고등학생들이 자기 집 방이나 PC 방에 틀어박혀 고중독성 컴퓨터 게임을 하곤 한다. 10대 게임 중독자들이 저지른 범죄는 점점 많아지고 더욱 폭력성을 띄고 있다.
온라인 게임은 소리효과가 더욱 좋아지고 더욱 환상적인 3차원 그래픽에다 자꾸 갱신되는 구조로 매일 진화하고 있어 10대들이 이런 치명적인 유혹을 떨치기에는 너무 어렵다. 이들 중 상당수에게는 게임이 숨막히는 학교 생활에서 빠져나가는 유일한 탈출구일 수 밖에 없다.
