SEOUL, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A study of 5.2 million elementary, middle and high school students in South Korea has found nearly 2 percent of them are obsessed with the Internet.
Liberty Forward Party official Lee Sang-min said the Education Ministry study found nearly 99,500 of the students surveyed could be classified as being addicted to the Internet, The Korea Times reported Friday.
Those classified as Internet addicts routinely spent more than four hours each day using online services and reported corresponding problems in their daily lives.
"Elementary school students have more difficulty than secondary school students in their restraint in using the Internet. Their Internet use may hurt their physical and mental health without help and proper education,'' Lee said of the study, whose margin of error was not reported.
Internet Addiction Counseling Center head Koh Young-sam told the Times any changes in such Internet usage must be voluntary to be effective.
"Rather than pressuring them to change their Internet use habit, we try to have them reflect on their attitude and make the voluntary decision to change the habit," he said of the center's clientele.
