Tripping On The Magic Carpet
How the internet lures the young into addiction
by Christopher Burn


‘This is for everyone’ Sir Tim Berners-Lee.  Sheen Community Centre, London SW14, UK
“This is for everyone” proclaims the plaque put up in East Sheen, London SW14, to celebrate the invention of the internet by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. It is Sir Tim’s local parish. Almost thirty years after this world changing moment, the reality is not quite so noble.

The words “Free-for-all” might define things better.

There has always been something exciting and mysterious about the ramifications of the internet that reminds me of the mysterious East, of the 1001 nights, of magicians and magic carpets. 
Pirates and thieves too. 

No wonder the world’s biggest internet player is called Alibaba. The West on the other hand, with its Anglo Saxons and Protestants, comes across as much more analogue.

A few years ago, I heard an expert on behavioural addiction (and quite an eminent one at that), say at a conference: “we worry about the number of hours that our children are spending on the internet, but in our day, we spent just as long watching TV.” And he might have added “ ..and that did us no harm at all”. 

Today, that statement is starting to look a bit naïve. Why? Because we seem not to have recognised how dangerous the internet can be as an introduction for children – a way into addictive behaviour of many kinds. We need to recognise this now. Some of our kids are tripping up on this magic carpet and when they do, it leads them into all sorts of problems, primarily addiction.

Recently I met a young man of twenty-two who had become addicted to internet poker, often playing 12 hours a day. At first. he had happily surfed the internet for bursts of pleasure. but it had slowly drawn him down into its murkier depths. Watching TV does not normally do that. 

All kids have dreams and fantasies. Some adults too. But mostly kids.

“All by myself I have to go,   
With none to tell me what to do—   
All alone beside the streams   
And up the mountain-sides of dreams.”(Robert louis Stevenson ( 1))

To follow your dreams these days, adult or child, you don’t need to get off your seat, you just need a laptop.

Today we are slowly waking up to the dangers of this. At the start of the internet age, most of us were a bit like children entering a secret garden; we did not imagine that this sudden new world could be subversive. 

Gradually, we have begun to see how the internet enables us to fulfil our dreams, that it isn’t just glimpses of a new, virtual reality to enjoy, but an amazing magic carpet that can carry us to dream worlds where we live out our fantasies with minimal effort. Suddenly Joe Public becomes James Bond by turning on his pc – no travelling to an actual casino or race meeting needed; the bourgeois housewife can dress like a princess by clicking on one or two choice websites,  maybe fixing herself up with a blind date on the way. Madame Bovary(2)  would think she was in heaven.  A career girl no longer needs to run off to London or Paris to try her luck – vanity fair gladly comes to her screen, offering introductions, entertainments, friends and expensive shopping.  Andrew Carnegie, Dick Whittington or any get rich quick hopeful can do it all at home these days. Thousands try, most fail.

Tripping On The Magic Carpet - How the internet lures the young into addiction - By Christoper Burn

Castle Craig is one of the UK’s most established and respected addiction rehab centres. Thousands of people from all over the UK and the world have turned to Castle Craig for quality treatment, extensive services, therapies and dedicated family support. 

Castle Craig is an inpatient residential rehab clinic that treats alcoholism, drug addiction, prescription drug addiction and gambling addiction. We also treat associated mental health problems that can appear alongside addiction, such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder. 

We are very passionate about renewing lives lost to addiction, bringing understanding and acceptance, helping patients to face the past, present and future and helping families move forward together.

Castle Craig

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