When an Hour Online Is Too Much, and 1,000 Hours Is Not Enough...

This graphic is from a net addiction page at Stanford University.

Internet addiction is becoming more and more accepted as a legitimate psychological addiction, like compulsive gambling or shopping. And this recognition is happening far beyond the borders of the United States. China has recently opened its first Internet addiction clinic in Beijing. An eight-bed residential clinic has opened in Amsterdam. Professionals at the Amsterdam clinic estimate that up to 20 percent of gamers, many of them children, could develop an Internet addiction.

Stanford University researchers recently conducted a telephone survey of more than 2,500 Internet users and found that almost 6 percent said their Internet use had adversely affected their relationships with family and friends, more than 8 percent hid their Internet use from their partners, an nearly 14 percent found it difficult to stay away from the Internet for several days.

This medianote, based on a recent BBC News article, generated a lot of interesting classroom discussion.

Gabcast! Club MediaNote #3