The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, the Game Culture Foundation, and the Honam Game Overdependence Healing Center hosted the '1st Digital Overdependence Relief Humanities Healing TokTok Camp for Youth in 2026' from May 20th to 22nd at Jirisan Natural Dream Park in Gurye, Jeonnam.

A total of 30 youths, from 5th grade elementary to 3rd grade middle school, grappling with digital overdependence issues, participated in the camp. During their stay, sans smartphones, these youngsters engaged in intensive, humanities-focused healing programs and a variety of collaborative, hands-on activities.

The humanities healing programme, themed around 'Literature', comprised eight sessions. Kicking off with 'Naming My Identity', the curriculum progressed through emotional recognition and poetry writing, empathy and narrative sharing during joint novel readings, culminating in the final session, 'I Am a Book'. Designed to allow participants to explore their inner selves and share experiences with peers through text and language, the programme encouraged self-reflection on needs and behavioural patterns via writing, dialogue, and co-creation, fostering an exploration of potential change.

Collaborative and experiential programmes were also on the menu. These included a special lecture on 'Youth Digital Literacy for Forming Healthy Digital Device Usage Habits' by Choi Jeong-ho (Director of Kind Jeongho-ssam Psychology Counseling Research Institute), Kapla collaborative block-building to foster teamwork and creative problem-solving, a 'Talent Market' co-creation programme for discovering and showcasing talents, a mini-sports day focused on physical activity, and a meditation programme aimed at cultivating emotional regulation skills.

On the final day of the camp, a special lecture for guardians was delivered by Yoon Woo-sang (CEO of Barmind Hospital), addressing how to collaboratively tackle children's digital device usage issues within the family.

Yoon Hyun-joo, director of the Honam Game Overdependence Healing Center and a psychiatrist at Naju National Hospital, commented, "The way the youth listened to each other's stories and expressed themselves through writing and activities in this camp showed changes beyond mere programme participation. We will continue to provide sustained support for the healthy growth of youth in the Honam region."

Yoo Byung-han, chairman of the Game Culture Foundation, stated, "For youth to escape digital overdependence, connecting with themselves, rather than disconnecting from devices, is paramount. This camp has once again confirmed that humanities are a vital conduit for enabling that connection. We will continue to develop the programme to ensure youth from diverse regions and backgrounds can access this experience."

The second Humanities Healing TokTok Camp is scheduled to take place on June 26th at the Gijang Culture Etiquette School in Busan. Any youth from 5th grade elementary to 3rd grade middle school struggling with digital overdependence can apply to participate free of charge.

More details can be foundon the official Game Culture Foundation website.