Internet Addiction Bootcamp

Internet addiction solution for your kids, but beware. A story I read at Quartz.

“When nagging stops working, exasperated Chinese parents will sometimes turn to military-style bootcamps to help their children beat their internet addiction, viewed by many as a mental disorder. But a couple who enrolled their 18-year-old son into one such facility didn’t get what they were promised. Less than 48 hours after their son checked in, he was dead.

The incident has exposed the horrors of these controversial bootcamps and sparked outrage on Chinese social media. A 2010 report by China Youth Association for Network Development, an organization affiliated with the Communist Party, claims China has 24 million internet addicts(link in Chinese) between the ages of six and 29. The alarm around this phenomenon has given rise to more than 300 military-style internet treatment camps in China, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN—some of which, like the Hefei Zhengneng Education, where Li Ao was being treated, operate illegally.

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Concerned with their son’s well-being, the parents of Li paid 22,800 yuan ($3,408), including a 1,000 yuan ($149) deposit (link in Chinese), for his 180-day treatment beginning Aug. 3 in central Anhui province. His mother, Liu Dongmei, said an instructor at the facility reassured her the staff would use counseling and physical activity to help their son, and avoid extreme treatments like electric shock therapy and sleep deprivation. An autopsy performed on Aug. 6 (link in Chinese), however, revealed more than 20 external injuries and several internal ones.” continue reading at Quartz website.

Will you send your kids to any kind of Internet Addiction Bootcamps? Share your views.

Image by Quartz