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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:25 am Post subject: A Rising Addiction Among Youths: Smartphones |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324263404578615162292157222.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
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"I hate doing it but I can't help it," she said as she fiddled with the palm-size gadget.
Ms. Lee is among the roughly 1 in 5 students in South Korea who the government said is addicted to smartphone use. This addiction is defined as spending more than seven hours a day using the phone and experiencing symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia and depression when cut off from the device. |
One in five Korean students use a phone more than seven hours a day? That's nuts!
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| South Korea has reached a mobile-phone penetration rate of more than 100%—meaning some people carry more than one handset |
That's a lot of adultery (and other forms of cheating) going on.
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| Theft is common, said Kim Hoi-kyung, a school supervisor at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. The office in June decided to provide up to 20 million won ($17,830) per school this year to help teachers pay for losses of smartphones in their possession. |
Students steal smartphones from teachers? So sad. I actually know someone this happened to. She was a hagwon co-owner/hagwon teacher. |
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Squire

Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Location: Jeollanam-do
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| Easy to believe, sadly. I have a coworker whose attention never seems to be entirely on a task unless the task involved using her phone. She often can't stand at the front of the class talking to the kids without checking her phone and replying to messages |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:23 am Post subject: |
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This is true here (Canada) too. With youths and adults. The smartphone / tablet addiction is clear to see out there.
What it means in societal terms is not easy to know however. Too soon to tell. |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 6:04 am Post subject: |
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| Rising? I thought it already was an addiction for most people. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011 Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 7:59 am Post subject: |
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| Smartphones are a symbol of freedom in a culturally oppressed society. This describes South Korea pretty well, don't you think? |
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Died By Bear

Joined: 13 Jul 2010 Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
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andrewchon

Joined: 16 Nov 2008 Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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For some smartphones are an oversized version of tamagochi. One could make smartphones into an educational toy but I think that'll kinda ruin it, I fear. So what you're doing is giving them the sickness and blaming them for being weak. That's not nice.  |
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waynehead
Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Location: Jongno
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Anyone remember that Star Trek TNG episode about the whole crew becoming addicted to games? I think of it whenever I'm on the subway and look over to see everyone bowing their heads, eyes glazed over, killing pigs with birds or whatever. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| People hunched over them on the subway doesn't bother me at all, there's nothing to look at anyway. It'd be nice to see more people reading but that's just me being an intellectual snob. I can't stand people playing with them in lessons, however, and it can be annoying the way they don't leave them alone when they get off the subway but carry on walking around looking into them. Young couples in restaurants/cafes not talking and both playing with their phones I'm not sure what to make of. I expect/hope people will get more blasé about them in the future and go back to more human interaction. I sat next to a guy in the cinema the other day who looked at his phone to read messages etc.. about 4 times during the film. Just couldn't leave it alone. Who knows whether it'll have any serious negative effects on human behaviour in the future, though I suspect not. |
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: La Florida
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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If you can't find something to look at on the subway, you are just not even trying!
Maybe the word I'm looking for here is "gawk". |
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Fox

Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| It'd be nice to see more people reading but that's just me being an intellectual snob. |
It's worth remembering, of course, that one can be reading while hunched over a phone. I do quite a bit of my reading on my phone, especially since a night-mode ebook can be easily read while in bed next to a sleeping child. I'm not saying most Koreans are doing that, but some may be. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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If you can't find something to look at on the subway, you are just not even trying!
Maybe the word I'm looking for here is "gawk". |
I'm a bit wary about doing that now after someone in another thread said it was illegal in some state in America |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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| It's worth remembering, of course, that one can be reading while hunched over a phone. I do quite a bit of my reading on my phone, especially since a night-mode ebook can be easily read while in bed next to a sleeping child. I'm not saying most Koreans are doing that, but some may be. |
True but I was here a while before smart phones became the rage and don't remember the subway being too different back then. A few more newspapers around maybe. Though it's possible more people read now due to the convenience |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| waynehead wrote: |
| Anyone remember that Star Trek TNG episode about the whole crew becoming addicted to games? I think of it whenever I'm on the subway and look over to see everyone bowing their heads, eyes glazed over, killing pigs with birds or whatever. |
The game released endorphins (sp?) with each successive level, until it took over their minds.
I suppose we are just a generation away from that technology right now. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Location: Korea
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:37 pm Post subject: Re: A Rising Addiction Among Youths: Smartphones |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
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| South Korea has reached a mobile-phone penetration rate of more than 100%—meaning some people carry more than one handset |
That's a lot of adultery (and other forms of cheating) going on. |
Yeah, I guess penetrating your smart phone can be seen as a form of cheating. Sure. |
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