Recent study suggests, approximately 24 million Chinese teenagers are victims of internet addiction especially online video games. Recently, a Chinese teenager was hospitalized when he took matters into his own hands and chopped his left hand to get rid of his addiction for the internet. The boy’s mother was extremely upset with the actions of her smart boy. This 19-year-old nicknamed “Little Wang”, from the city of Nantong in the Jiangsu province, left a note for his mother saying that he has gone to the hospital and would definitely return this evening. Apparently “Little Wang” had flicked the kitchen knife, tip toed outside and once he was away, whacked his left hand at the wrist. He then called for a cab to take him to the nearest hospital. Local television broadcast visuals of the scene where the boy had taken the bold decision.
Surgeons were able to attach the severed hand but couldn’t guarantee whether complete mobility would return. Internet addiction has become analogical to an epidemic in East Asian countries such as China, which have around 649 million online users. The matter has become so serious that politicians in Taiwan have agreed to change legislative rules and fine parents who don’t monitor the amount of time their children spend on “electronic products”. In Japan, there are “internet fasting” camps which are measures to the curb the crisis of teens living the virtual world. In 2013, Shanghai has approved laws to “prevent and stop minors smoking, drinking alcohol, roaming the streets, or being overindulgent with online and electronic games”.
Tao Ran, a well-known army psychologist, says that almost 14 per cent of his country’s youth are hooked to the internet. Mr. Tao runs a rehab center for patients suffering from internet addiction and says that the only activities these “web junkies” do are sleeping and playing. In order to handle this problem, he suggests radical steps such as keeping children under seven years old away from the internet and prohibiting under 18 kids from internet cafes. “I heard about the young man who chopped off his hand,” Mr Tao added. “But I fear he will become addicted again.”
Source: The Telegraph
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