August 31, 2004
Korean Students hooked on cell phones
The Korea Herald reports that cell phones are an addiction that's causing stress among particularly the younger generation.
"A survey by the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital of 340 high school students in Pulgok High School found about two-thirds possessed cell phones.
-- About 29 percent had addictive symptoms bordering on paranoia.
-- About 60 percent were constantly worried whenever their mobiles were turned off, feeling someone could have sent a text message without setting off the warning bell.
-- Kim Bo-mi, 14, a junior high school student, hallucinated that her phone was vibrating or ringing even when she did not have it with her.
Excessive messaging can cause pain in the shoulders and the thumb and fingers. Called Text Message Injury (TMI), it's a blood circulation problem caused by pressing buttons rapidly on a small space. The symptoms are similar to RSI, repetitive stress (or strain) injury, from which millions who use computers or do repetitive motions suffer.
Related articles:
-- Cell phones prompt earlier sexual debut - A professor at the University of Oslo thinks the widespread usage of cell phones among teenagers is prompting them to have sex at an earlier age. Two of three Norwegian teenagers who chat and send frequent text messages on their cell phones have engaged in sexual intercourse.
-- 2003: Cell Phones' Bad Rap - Medical scientists and psychologists have blamed cell phones for everything - from making children fat, to triggering the onset of Alzheimer to being responsible for a new form of addiction disorder as well as leading to sexually transmitted diseases.
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