Regulating Video Games Like Drugs Is Not a Solution to Help Addicted People.

By Yun Joo-seong
Senior, Business
Administration
   A few months ago, some lawmakers in the ruling Saenuri Party began rolling up their sleeves to put forth a legislative anti-addiction bill. While saying that gaming should be put in the same category with gambling, drugs, and alcoholism, they argued that addiction not only causes health-related problems to individuals but that it also increases the rate of grave crimes such as murder and robbery. The idea that gaming is on par with snorting cocaine is, to me, nothing more than a hilarious (and unpersuasive) idea. According to the figures released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2013, the gaming industry accounts for about 60% of Korea’s overall cultural industry exports. If that’s the case, it is crystal clear that placing unreasonable regulation and imposing a new tax on this cash-cow industry will have a negative effect on the country’s digital contents industry. Besides, the regulation will cause valuable programmers to leave Korea to seek opportunities in other countries. There is no doubt that Korea’s gaming industry, as a result, will eventually see its demise. Moreover, one’s right to pursue happiness should be guaranteed no matter what, and someone’s desire to play games should be included in that right. If gaming should be restrained merely for its addictiveness, by the same logic, watching TV and visiting movie theaters need to be dealt with in the same manner. I personally think that to tackle the addiction problem effectively, what really needs to be done is to work out measures that will treat addicted people’s disorders by providing counseling services or opening a specialized unit to help people.
   Korea is one of the most wired countries with well-established IT infrastructures, a lot of capable programmers, and a huge amount of exports. In this situation, tightening restrictions on the gaming industry is no less than killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I sincerely hope people remember how Korea’s once prospering animation industry has been whittled down in its power to a shadow of its former self.
 

The Addiction Law Can Not Truly Stop the Addiction of Modern Men.

By Kwon Hyo-jung
Junior, Business
Administration
   The game addiction law is an impractical policy which provokes illegal access by teenagers and hinders the creative potential of the game industry. This law overlooks the fact that any kind of stimulation can be abused by modern people who live in an excessively competitive and materialistic social environment. 
   Not a few people who are severely addicted to games have some psychological problems which include a sense of inferiority and loss. It is natural that people differentiate between superiority and inferiority according to the values which are in tune with the times. The problem is that media, advertisements, and SNS keep reminding us of the inconvenient truth via various kinds of technology. No matter whether the information is true or distorted, the society which broadcasts or posts only the excellent intensifies the sense of inferiority in other individuals. The opportunities to win something or feel that he or she has dominated something are not usually provided to mediocre people. Since these kinds of feelings are not easily taken in their reality, contemporary men are extremely addicted to game which temporarily offers the sweetness of a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, games are misused by people who are emasculated through experience causing brain damage, depression, and social problems. However, games are not the only content that has been misused. There is also plastic surgery, smart phones and television; those who changed their identities with surgery that distorts their souls, a little machine that is stared at much longer than a friends’ eyes, and a box that numbs thinking. Games are no different from these. One of our human’s recreations which offers enjoyment and achievement by stimulating a spirit of emulation has changed to a vicious hobby that harms the body, the soul, and society.
   Applying sanctions against game culture as one of the addictive group is to neglect the fundamental social problem which is human alienation. The game addiction law may forbid teenagers from accessing games at night and hinder the growth of game industry. However, the policy cannot prohibit illegal access or the growth of new provocative industries unless society can offer the fulfillments and sense of achievement more than video games can.

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