Increased Internet speed and availability in the United States delivers many benefits. But do such advances also carry long-term risks for online users? And as the quality of our Internet increases, could Americans soon find themselves facing the same "addiction" problems as South Korea, the world s most wired nation?
Think about it. But before you decide, consider this scene.
Entering a South Korean subway car today, you'd find yourself immersed in a sea of downturned heads bent over glaring digital screens, connected to a free countrywide Wi-Fi service running at more than twice the Internet speed of the U.S. And this scenario plays out in many other public spaces around the Asian country.
I was really shocked that I could not really use Internet [on the] subway, says Yechan Kim, a South Korean foreign exchange student who recently arrived in New York City. In every place you go, in a [South Korean] city, you could get Wi-Fi anywhere, very fast. I think it takes about 3-5 times to download a same file here then back in Korea."
As great as it sounds, South Korea's widely available Wi-Fi also carries negative baggage. Roughly 10 percent of the country's approximately 10 million teenagers are state-certified Internet addicts. One million digitally-desperate, twitchy teenagers can seem disconcerting in a country of a little over 50 million people.
Concerned with the adverse educational effects of high Internet use, the government sends thousands of addicted teens to "detox" at Internet rehab centers. In contrast, only a few voluntary rehab centers exist in the U.S.
Now, as our broadband capabilities approach theirs, it's entirely possible that our online addiction could equal or top South Korea's. According to a 2010 study published online at PubMed.gov, under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health, between 1.5 and 8.2 percent of the U.S. and European population may suffer from Internet addiction. And according to the FCC s 2015 Measured Fixed Broadband America report, U.S. Internet speeds have tripled since 2011, rising from an average of 10 mbps to 31 mbps, setting the stage for more users who can get hooked.
While 34 million (mostly rural) Americans still lack access to the minimum FCC standard of Internet speed, U.S. Internet usage has increased from 79 percent of Americans in 2011 to 84 percent in 2015.
Internet addiction isn t generally recognized within the spectrum of addictive disorders, but the South Korean government sized up the situation, and in 2011 imposed a Cinderella" law effectively blocking anyone under the age of 16 from playing online games after midnight, using registration and pass codes to enforce the ban.
Needless to say, this proved controversial and unwelcome by youngsters.
[The law] is hated by most of the people, especially [in their] teens and 20s, says Kim. People under 18 cannot even enter a PC Room after 10 PM, because the government wants students to focus on studying. ... So at 9:55, you can see a bunch of teenagers heading home complaining about the law.
It's unlikely that the U.S. will enact a "Cinderella" law of its own anytime soon. Yet we must warily check our side-view mirrors as the American Internet speeds onward.
