After refusing a direct order, 16 year old Chen Shi was beaten to death at a boot camp for troubled youth in China. And it’s not the first time this has happened to teenage internet addicts.
The Age asks if today’s youth is addicted to mobile phones after learning 90% of kids aged 15 have them. That was a rhetorical question, right Age? In other news, tonight’s forecast is darkness. [The Age]
To combat a building wave of fear over gaming addiction and its scary, violent manifestations, Chinese players will soon spend 72 hours without bath or sleep leveling up without the comforting blanket of anonymity.
We love HDTV and video games something fierce, but this news out of the U.K. is pretty rotten. Apparently, parents are allowing tots to watch so much TV that they’re forgetting their own names.
A Japanese company, Sosu, has recently revealed “healthy cigarettes,” a rechargeable battery-powered device that emits flavoured steam, complete with glowing LED lights. Unfortunately these cigarettes won’t actually help with those nicotine–you know, the addictive part–cravings.
Sadly, Canadian police believe that they have found the body of Brandon Crisp, a 15 year old that ran away from home in early October after his parents took away his Xbox 360 privileges. Apparently, he had become obsessed with Call of Duty 4 and action was taken after it began to affect his grades. The boy was found on the Oro Medonte Rail Trail outside of Barrie, Ontario with a tent and a meager supply of food. Police are awaiting the pathology report before confirming the boy’s identity. Ugh…I can’t even imagine what his parents must be feeling right now. [CP24 via Kotaku]
World of Warcraft player/dorkmaster supreme Prepared has caved to his smack addiction-like dependence on WoW and created 36 separate accounts that he plays simultaneously on an epically ridiculous rig. He claims to spend over $US5700 per year just on the game, and plans to pick up 36 copies of the new expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King when it’s released.
While most of us are “addicted” to our mobiles, apparently some have it so bad that they’re receiving treatment. Two children (ages 12 an 13) were admitted to a mental health clinic to cure what’s been labelled as mobile phone addiction. From the Telegraph:
