Information Society Watch

March 13, 2007, Andrew Leonard

Many of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are restricting campus Internet use during night hours, because of recent suicides being linked to the presumed anti-social behaviour that Internet use promotes. Administrators claim that participation in sports and cultural activities is waning, that an atmosphere of camaraderie is no longer felt, and that students' studies are being negatively impacted. On the other hand, students are unhappy with the restrictions placed on their ability to spend their free time as they would like. However, it is clear that Internet addiction is more of a symptom than a cause of greater social problems. Such an authoritarian move may not prove adequate enough to address the larger problems students face in dealing with the stress of being in these high-pressure institutions in the context of a highly competitive global economy.

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