Slovakia now has internet addiction centre

Between 2-3 percent of internet users are addicted to the internet in some form, and young people of 15-30 years of age are most susceptible to suffering crippling internet addiction, TASR learnt from head of civic association eSlovensko Miroslav Drobný at the launch of the Centre for Internet Addiction Prevention available at neZavislost.sk on Tuesday. The NeZavislost.sk (which, in addition to the literal 'independence' also translates fittingly as 'non-addiction') centre was launched to coincide with the annual global 'Safer Internet Day'. "We'll focus on Internet users who may or may not develop an addiction. Their lives are slipping through their fingers like sand. We'll seek to help all those who aim to combat their problematic, excessive use of the internet," said Drobný. The project's manager Jarmila Tomková defined the centre's goals as spreading awareness of the problem and web-based prevention and therapy. The centre should provide a platform for experts from universities, research and counselling, while also aiming to conduct research into internet addiction both in Slovakia and internationally. Importantly, a network of regional centres should be established, enabling children and parents to reach out for professional help locally. Drobný also unveiled the pilot version of an Android-based app called neZavislost, which, among other things, counts time spent online and offers an internet addiction test. The prevention centre was launched within the zodpovedne.sk ('responsibly') project, which aims for safe and responsible use of technologies and was supported by the European Union. The Education, Science, Research and Sport Ministry and Child Helpline LDI act as its partners.