China Teen in Internet Addiction Rehab Boot Camp Beaten to Death by Counselors

China Internet Rehab Boot Camp for teens shut down after 15-yr-old beaten to death by counselors

Chinese 15-yr-old who surfed web on weekends sent to Internet Boot Camp for treatment, allegedly beaten to death by counselors

An illegal “Internet” rehab boot camp for Chinese teens in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang, China has been shut down after a fifteen-yr-old boy was allegedly beaten to death by counselors.

According to China Daily, the 15-yr-old boy had been sent to Qihang Salvation Training Camp, a boot camp for teens addicted to the internet after his parents and teachers became concerned about the amount of time the teen spent surfing the web. The boy’s uncle claimed that his nephew’s addiction “wasn’t severe” and that the boy only surfed the internet on the weekends.

The camp, which the government claimed was illegal because it hadn’t been registered with the “proper departments”, was shut down one week after the death of Deng Senshan, a middle school graduate from Ziyuan. Thirteen suspects were arrested, including the camp president and counselors.

From China Daily:

“Senshan had good scores at school before his parents bought him a computer, and then he spent a lot of time online. His parents and school teachers tried to persuade him to stop but he didn’t listen,” Li said.

According to an agreement the parents signed with the camp, the boy was to stay in the camp from Aug 1 to Sept 1 to “get away from bad behavior, regain confidence and establish positive life attitudes”.

The agreement allowed the camp to punish the teenager, as long as this did not involve abuse or injury.

Li alleged that the boy was placed in solitary confinement within hours of his arrival and was beaten to death for running too slowly.

Deng was pronounced dead at Wuxu town health center about 3 am on Aug 2.

According to ABC News, Boot Camp! China’s Answer to Web Addiction, internet addiction treatment centers are “booming” in China. With an estimated 270 million users, 70% are under age 30 while a survey found that the Chinese spend more of their leisure time on the internet than users in 16 other countries.

Chinese psychologist, Tao Ran, who established a “treatment” center at a military base outside of Bejing believes the problem of internet addiction is “getting worse” with an estimated 4-6% of users addicts which he defines as spending six hours or more a day in leisure web surfing for a period of three months or more.

“In addition to military-style discipline, some 60-odd patients at his center undergo a three-month regimen of counseling, confidence-building activities, sex education and in about 60 percent of the cases, medication. The treatment is designed to address underlying family and psychological problems, and boost their self-confidence.”

Fifteen-yr-old Deng was enrolled at an “illegal” internet rehab boot camp which had failed to get the proper paperwork.

In January, ABC reported that China had 300 internet addiction treatment centers.

According to CNN’s Sticky Web: Science ponders Internet ‘addiction’, medical researchers are looking into whether excessive internet surfing can be classified as clinically addictive due to the high numbers of people seeking treatment here in the U.S..

The boy in China didn’t seek treatment. He was forced into “boot camp” rehab after his parents and teachers became “concerned” about the amount of time he spent online. Time which, according to his uncle was minimal, only a few hours spent surfing the internet on weekends.

By LBG

Image – China Internet

Tags: beaten, China, Chinese teen, death, internet boot camp, rehab, Surfing, treatment, treatment centers, web