More youths seeking help for online addictions
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By Hetty Musfirah | Posted: 06 February 2011 1649 hrs
SINGAPORE: The results of a National Youth Survey released recently have raised concerns over youths spending too much time online. Experts have said that if not monitored, the habit may lead to addiction.
When it comes to internet usage, the latest "State of the Youths in Singapore" report revealed that nearly 8 in 10 youths "strongly agree" or "agree" that they spend their time online for entertainment purposes.
It might not be much of a tell tale sign of a growing social problem but the TOUCH Cyber wellness centre has already begun to see an increase in cases of gaming addiction.
The number of counselling cases went up by 40 per cent last year, to 71 cases, compared to 2009.
Anthony Yeong, programme executive with TOUCH Cyber Wellness & Sports, said: "There are some who play because it is an act of achievement for them, they play just for a competitive nature for the fact of satisfying their personal ego. There is also a lot of personal reason that they are playing because of peers who are playing, and in that sense it's a group activity that they must indulge in.
"Then of course there are also people who are escaping from their real world. They don't like who they are, they prefer to go into the online world. So there are varying reasons why people will get addicted...these are generally the trends that we have noticed."
The good news is that about 7 in 10 of those seen at the centre, attain their counselling goals. However, those who are getting addicted are also much younger.
Ray Chua, assistant manager of TOUCH Cyber Wellness & Sports, said: "Our clients are typically about the age of 14-15, so early teenage years, but we are also seeing cases where they are in the upper primary so 11-12 years old, where parents come to us and say their kids gaming habits are becoming out of control and ask us to help them."
Dr Tan Hwee Sim, a consultant with the Addiction Medicine Department at the Institute of Mental Health, said that the amount of time spent on a computer is not an obvious sign of addiction.
"The actual hours is not a tell-tale sign whether it is an addiction.They will skip school so they can stay home, so they play the game or whether they will play computer games over night. So it's more of whether you are spending the time that you can afford or not, rather than the actual hours," said Dr Tan.
Experts have said that the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook may also add to the problem.
Cases of youths addicted to games on such sites are already starting to crop up.
Mr Chua elaborates: "Besides just gaming, we also notice and are observing a lot more people getting into social media, of course instances like Facebook, games such as Mafia wars, Mouse Hunt are all on the rise. To date these are just observations that we have made, there are awareness of this platform, we are still observing.
"But we expect it to go grow and we are expecting that it may get big. For the gaming cases, we actually get kids dropping out of school or failing their exams, not so much for social networks as yet, it's an area that we are observing."
-CNA/ac -
online addiction is a widespread issue that faces even the giants....
Ask Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and even Jimmy Wales....most ironically dropout from Ivy league to pursue their obsessions...of course they changed the world....and world's apart from the rest of us....but weren't they like us before they hit the chart?
aside to counselling and school cooperation on this issue, perhaps a new enterprising programme would be to talent scout and groom the potential ones who could contribute to IT innovations...they can't aspire to be the next Zuckerberg....but can come close to Beeconomics is not bad a feat....of course they have to prove themselves real good ..not just gaming or google for fun all day long...the rest will be locked up in remand centre studying for at least 3 to 5 hours without PC till they pass the exams ...lol....
parents can be addicts themselves as well.....haiz....so set up a STUDENT REMAND CENTRE in the school....lol
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Originally posted by Fcukpap:
online addiction is a widespread issue that faces even the giants....
Ask Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and even Jimmy Wales....most ironically dropout from Ivy league to pursue their obsessions...of course they changed the world....and world's apart from the rest of us....but weren't they like us before they hit the chart?
aside to counselling and school cooperation on this issue, perhaps a new enterprising programme would be to talent scout and groom the potential ones who could contribute to IT innovations...they can't aspire to be the next Zuckerberg....but can come close to Beeconomics is not bad a feat....of course they have to prove themselves real good ..not just gaming or google for fun all day long...the rest will be locked up in remand centre studying for at least 3 to 5 hours without PC till they pass the exams ...lol....
parents can be addicts themselves as well.....haiz....so set up a STUDENT REMAND CENTRE in the school....lol
I agree with you. Obssession with IT may not be a bad thing. But I don't agree with you that Singapore can't have the next Zuckerberg, in fact, I don't even want to be associated with Zuckerberg because I think having success after betraying his friends is not the way I want my success to be. I prefer more of Google founders where the best friends together come to build a better world and become successful together. Google is more meaningful because they really help people locate information better and for people like me who loves to understand how things work etc, it is the next best thing to a bible. I think Singapore can have the next game changer, but the chances are low because of cultural upbringing (risk adverse thinking) and also the low population. -
many are addicted regardless of age.
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yep i am an addict too. but good for me when i was their age no internet. hell don;t even had a comp so no distractions. only after i completed my part time studies then i got a computer and later onlyinternet become more affordable then i addict. if not when studyying i wonder what i will becum. now addict for me nevermind, just need constant break from sitting down too much will develop high blodod pressure
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Whoops, I think I am a victim too.
:(