You cannot beat a Chinese geek
By Davey Winder in Editorial
In the UK if you mention the phrase Boot Camp to most teenagers they will immediately think of Simon Cowell and the X-Factor talent show. For Chinese geeks it has a whole different meaning.
China was one of the first countries to officially classify Internet addiction as being a mental disorder and one that was to be dealt with by sending the patient to a boot camp for treatment. Following that decision a year ago, numerous teenage geeks have had to endure the physical regime that these treatment centres across China dished out. There are, according to some estimates, as many as 400 Internet rehabilitation clinics operating in China.
According to some opponents of the process these involved rigorous physical exercise, including corporal punishment and beatings of the kids involved. Indeed, there have been leaked reports of injuries and even a death. 15 year old Deng Senshan died within 24 hours of being sent to the Qihang Salvation Training camp for example. Some camps have stood accused of using electro-shock treatment, even though this was officially banned by the Chinese authorities during the Summer.
Now the Chinese Health Ministry has gone further in banning beatings as well. A statement on the Ministry website urges restraint in the treatment of Internet addiction and confirms that “intervention methods that restrict personal freedom are strictly forbidden” along with corporal punishment. The statement informs both parents and teachers that they have a duty to “analyse the causes and not arbitrarily condemn, hit or scold youths”.
I’m not convinced, however, that this will be enough to protect the geeks. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the director of Internet addiction clinic at the Beijing Military Command General Hospital reckons that Internet addiction remains a disease albeit one that cannot be cured by “military training or physical punishment”. I guess that’s a start, but actually accepting that people who enjoy using the Internet, and those who play World of Warcraft for that matter, are not evil and are not ill might be a better route to solving the ‘problem’ don’t you think?
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