Withdrawn and disconnected
skype video conference lukemia hikikomori
Via Green LA Girl I found myself reading about the Japanese phenomenon of hikikomori in the New York Times.
Green LA Girl says she was "both fascinated and depressed after first reading about this hikikomori phenomenon" and I have to say I share that feeling; reading through the article I see behavioral patterns that remind me of a lot of I.T. people I know (and myself to some degree) - not to the extent of locking ones self away in their room for months without social interaction, but to spending a large amount of time online and in apparent seclusion (irc, second life, world of warcraft may not be seclusion to those using them, but it is to those in the offline world).
After reading the article I headed to the supermarket for some much needed dinner supplies (and being 9pm I was conscious of what I'd just been reading) I returned to cook dinner and watch some videos via Democracy and the first thing to come up was a video from Agnes Risley School (7.35mb) about Celeste - a young girl with lukemia who couldn't attend school. The video starts with a message being shown on a computer screen:
Imagine something has happened to you, and you can't be around other people at all. You can't leave your house or have friends over, and you even have to be careful about being around members of your own family.
Initially thoughts were still thinking about hikikomori and I wasn't sure I really wanted to watch a video about the subject but I soon discovered the real subject matter - Celeste was unable to attend school due to lukemia but through the use of technology and a forward thinking teacher was able to attend, and be a part of the classroom through Skype video conferencing.
If you've got a spare 5 minutes - watch the video and get inspired about how we can use technology, people, and creative thinking can be used to improve the lives of those around us.