Survey says poor areas breed web addicts

By Han Manman

Young people living in smaller cities are more likely to be addicted to the Web than their peers in developed areas, a survey released Tuesday said.

The survey, conducted by the China Youth Association for Network Development and Communication University of China, found 8 to 9 percent of young Internet users in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were “addicted.”

But the numbers were worse in western cities such as Guiyang and Yinchuan, where 32 and 21 percent of young Internet surfers were declared addicts.

One of the main reasons for the higher proportion of Web- addicted youth in less developed cities is the lack of choices to spend leisure time. Youths in developed cities have a wider and earlier exposure to the Internet and more choices in how to spend leisure time, the survey said.

The number of et addicts leaped to 24 million last year, double the figure from 2005, and included one in seven young Internet users. Nearly half of the young people surveyed used the Web to play games, according to Hao Xianghong, secretary-general of the China Youth Association for Network Development (CYAND).

“The results highlight a worrying trend of growing Internet addiction among youth,” Hao saidHe said the survey polled 7,000 people between the ages of 6 and 29 in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions from last September to January. It has been conducted every two years since 2005 by CYAND.

As many as 15.6 percent of the netizens in the 18-to-23 age range were Internet addicts –the largest percentage among age groups surveyed. The lowest percentage of addicts, 8.8 percent, was found among 6- to 12-year-old Internet users, according to the survey.

The survey classified Internet addicts as users with at least one of the three symptoms: a continuous desire to use the Internet; anxiety or anger when cut off from the Internet; or experiencing greater happiness online than in real life, Hao said.

At least 384 million people are online in the country. Internet addiction is an increasing concern for parents, some of whom resort to extreme methods to curb their child’s habits.In August, a 15-year-old died at an Internet rehabilitation camp in Guangxi. The camp was met with outrage when the autopsy report concluded the death was due to extreme physical abuse.

Another teenager was seriously beaten that month at a similar camp in Sichuan Province.
There are 400 private Internet rehabilitation clinics nationwide.