Guide to Education Grants

Another Student Loan Resource:
YouTube, Digg, Flickr, Meebo, Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia. These media, networking, and reference sites have exploded onto the Web scene, bringing with them access to an incredible amount of information and the ability to interact with millions of individuals across the globe.
 
Making new college friends on Facebook, keeping up with old ones through Meebo, scouring YouTube for the funniest video ever, Digging the coolest stories and burying the ones you think are a waste of space—the possibilities are unlimited.
 
But for some, the Web hookup never stops.
 
If you find yourself locked in your dorm room for days on end surfing the Net and playing your Wii, if the last meal you remember was string cheese and Hot Pockets® with a steady stream of Monsterâ„¢, if you’ve largely sworn off human contact and if you think you’re a college student but you’re not really sure since you haven’t stepped in a lecture hall  in weeks, it’s possible you have a problem.
 
 
So You’re a 70th-Level Rogue Wielding the Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Too Bad You’re Still Failing Chemistry.
 
Go ahead, put the controller down. Step away from your iMac. Breaking the connection from your steady drip of everything Web may be harder than it sounds. But if you also happen to be in college, it may be necessary.
 
Even though your classes may not be mandatory (unlike your required presence at your guild’s next World of Warcraft mission), it’s probably still a good idea to show up every once in a while, especially if you plan on graduating within the next decade.
 
Worried that you can’t kick your Internet addiction? Help is on the way, at least if you live in China.
 
 
An Internet Crackdown in China
 
According to a recent article from Reuters, 20 million Chinese use the Internet. Of those, approximately 2.6 million are officially considered addicts, and the Chinese government has decided to intervene, as a result of “a number of high-profile Internet-related deaths and juvenile crime,” (“Camp to Cure Internet ‘Addicts,’ â€ Herald Sun, Aug. 7, 2007).
 
Since the country’s 113,000 Internet cafés and bars may be enabling the problem, the government is banning the creation of new Internet cafés. And a volunteer group in Shanghai patrols the city on the lookout for minors attempting to enter Internet cafés and stops them from going in.
 
 
 Re-Integrating Web-Dwellers Into Non-Virtual Society
 
The latest curative effort to go up against the Chinese Internet contagion is an experimental 10-day summer camp for those between the ages of 14–22. Applicants must undergo a psychological test and evaluation, and the 40 that are ultimately accepted “would be treated for depression, fear, unwillingness to interact with others, panic and agitation.”
 
This cutting-edge camp represents something of a departure from the more stringent treatment practices at the Beijing Addiction Treatment Center, where they use “a blend of therapy and military drills to treat children addicted to online games, Internet pornography and cybersex.”
 
 
Self-Reflection Doesn’t Mean Obsessing Over Your Second Life Character
 
Studies show that Internet addiction, which affects more and more people every year, can be seriously detrimental, as dangerous as any of the “traditional” addictions. The freedom offered during college, now that you’ve moved out from under the constant surveillance of your family, means you can spend your time the way you want. But it also means that without anyone there to monitor you or tell you you’re becoming a freakish Internet hermit, your harmless surfing could spiral out of control into a full-blown Web addiction.
 
So seriously, if you’ve been replacing friends and family, school and work with online chats and MySpace posts, if you find yourself endlessly surfing the Net or immersing yourself in online games until most of the people you know are made of pixels instead of blood and bone, you might want to consider whether you need some help getting offline.
 
Not that you need to ship yourself off to China to sign up for Beijing-style “treatment,” but it might be time to consider asking people in the real world to help you rejoin them, a little at a time..
 
 
For all the information you need about student loans, go to www.nextstudent.com.
 
 
Student Loan Girl
 
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 11:59 am and is filed under Student Loans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.