I watched a CNN report on the the street kids of Nepal who are addicted to glue.  It is a tragic story of children ages 10-15 living on the street and addicted to sniffing glue, even in the presence of the CNN crew interviewing them. The journalists were shocked at the fact that there are so many of these children and no authority that takes action. It appeared that no one cared and the journalists felt compelled to tell their sad story with the hope that the attention may bring change or action.

As the reporter walked down the street, she revealed children begging with one hand while holding onto their glue in the other. And I started thinking.

Not to belittle how awful it is and how sad these kids lives are, but think of walking down the street of any suburb in the US. You don’t see kids outside playing and certainly not begging. Why? Because here, the kids get their fix without having to beg.

Walk down the street and you know that behind almost every door is a child or teen or adult online right now. And he will be on the Internet for hours – chatting, on Facebook, playing poker, looking at porn, Chatroulette, gaming or another of the endless possibilities for wasting time online.

• She feels lonely, maybe depressed sometimes, frustrated, anxious.
• He can’t pay attention in school because his attention span has been shot to hell by so much time playing Internet games.
• He spends hours at work looking at pornography. He can’t stop even though he wants to.
• She leaves her computer on all night, listening to the “ping” of “friends coming and going. She never looks rested anymore.

And try – try to get them to stop. Just for a day. Take away the computer, the cellphone, the iPhone. And watch. You will see withdrawal symptoms. And you won’t know what to do. After all, it’s just a computer. Everyone needs to use a computer. The Internet is not a drug! You’ll let them have their junk back. And again, it will likely be without any limits or rules or accountability. And like on the streets of Nepal, everyone just keeps looking the other way.