Over 210,000 Youth at Risk of Media Overdependence, Slight Decline from Last Year

- MOGEF announces results of the 2025 Youth Media Usage Habit Diagnostic Survey 

- Tailored recovery programs provided based on risk level, including education, counseling, and hospital treatment

- Support to be expanded, including pilot residential camps for upper-grade elementary school students

As of 2025, 213,243 students in grades 4 (elementary), 1 (middle school), and 1 (high school) were found to experience disruptions in daily life due to excessive use of the internet or smartphones, marking a slight decrease from 221,029 in 2024.

※ Number of students who participated in the diagnostic survey: 1,249,317 in 2024 → 1,234,587 in 2025

On Wednesday the 18th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) announced the results of the “2025 Youth Media Usage Habit Diagnostic Survey,” which involved approximately 1.47 million participants, including students in key educational transition years (elementary grade 4, middle school year 1, high school year 1) and the parents of elementary grade 1 students.

- Conducted annually since 2009 in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, local education offices, and schools nationwide, the survey aims to identify youth struggling with media overdependence at an early stage and support their treatment and recovery.

With parental consent, MOGEF provides customized recovery services—including counseling, hospital treatment, therapy programs, and parental education-through youth counseling institutions, depending on the severity of media overdependence.

- For those in need of more intensive support, residential therapy camps are available. These programs offer a media-restricted environment where participants receive professional counseling and engage in alternative activities.

- In particular, in response to the increasingly younger age of affected youth, MOGEF will expand family therapy camps for elementary school students from 10 sessions in 2024 to 12 in 2025, and will launch a pilot residential therapy camp for upper-grade elementary students this September at the National Youth Internet Dream Village.

Choi Eun-ju, Director of Youth Policy Bureau at MOGEF, stated, “The Youth Media Usage Habit Diagnostic Survey plays an important role in helping young people develop healthy media habits on their own.”

- She added, “Based on this year’s results, we will continue to identify at-risk youth early and provide tailored recovery services to help them grow into responsible digital citizens.”