A Study on Dilemma in Internet Addiction Prevention and Solution Policy for Adolescent

Policy responses to problematic video game use: A systematic review of current measures and future possibilities

“…The six policy-related papers written in Korean were thoroughly examined by two Korean authors of this paper. One paper contained empirical data (Shin & Chae, 2015), whereas the rest of the papers were reviews on government policies (Cho & Jin, 2015; Chon, 2009; Han & Koh, 2012; Kim, 2010, 2014). The only empirical study surveyed teachers and counselors who worked on media-related addiction in schools.…”

“…The other five review papers mostly provided simple summaries on current government policies on Internet use and/or gaming with some suggestions of their own. Of these, only two papers were deemed worthwhile to be introduced in this paper (Kim, 2010, 2014).…”

“…The other paper provided a more detailed review on Internet addiction prevention policies in South Korea, depending on the different values and policy objectives by each governmental department ( Kim, 2014 ). The relevant ministries were evaluated as either aiming for (i) protection or (ii) gaming industry promotion.…”

“…The stance taken by the MCST is that it does not accept the existence of “media addiction” and it views the problem as concerning “over-committed” users. Due to opposition from the MCST, the MEGF faced difficulties in the policymaking process of “shutdown legislation.” This was viewed as a dilemma due to the conflict between two opposing values – “protecting youth from addiction” versus “promoting industrial development.” Kim ( 2014 ) also divided the interest groups into (i) those in favor of Internet addiction prevention (parents, teachers, and non-governmental organizations) and (ii) those opposing regulation (companies related to Internet and gaming). This conflict of values has contributed to the dilemma in the policymaking.…”

“…Initially, the South Korean government perceived the concept of “industry promotion” and “Internet addiction” as independent from each other. However, the South Korean government eventually realized these two areas were not independent of each other due to the growth of online industries and the advent of social problems related to Internet addiction ( Kim, 2014 ). Consequently, the existing policies, developed in the period of not fully being aware of opposing conflicts, expanded independently under the separate policy goals of each government department and contributed to the current conflicting and overlapping roles.…”