One of the charms of modernization that has caught hold of China is internet addiction. A recent FT article tells the story of a 17-year old boy who poisoned his parents for keeping him from the local internet cafe. Internet cafes are a major location for socializing and plugging into cyberspace – no matter if it is China’s internet is increasingly curving in on itself. McKinseyconsultant Yuval Atsmon, based in Shanghai, attributes the hold the internet is gaining on China’s youth to overnight, full-on access to instant messaging, video streaming, online gaming and interactive media. Fully 34% of China’s more than 330 million netizens are under the ageof 19 years, according to China Internet Network Information Centre. They don’t have much disposable income, and internet cafe’s costs pennies for hours of ir-reality.

But are Chinese youths necessarily more susceptible to the endorphin rush of internet addiction than those of other countries? Yes and No. “Internet Addiction in Asia: Reality or Myth,” a paper by Ma. Regina M. Hechanova and Jennifer Czincz International Research Development Center indicates that on average Chinese youths are less prone than their Asian neighbors to internet addiction. Hong Kong kids have very serious addiction rates, according to their survey of surveys.

chart from “Internet Addiction in Asia: Reality or Myth”

Meanwhile, a paper in the Journal of Cyberpsychology and Behavior cites Chinese youth as more addicted to the internet than American youths, with 14% of the study’s sampling of Chinese heavily addicted compared with 4% of American youths.

Nevertheless, internet addiction is a phenomenon that afflicts every wired nation.

Further reading: FT, “A Comparative Study of Internet Addiction between China and the United States”