Text Size
Smaller
Bigger

Beatings No Longer Allowed at Chinese Internet Addiction Clinics

Comments (1)
posted 11:15 PM EST, Thu November 05, 2009
Beatings No Longer Allowed at Chinese Internet Addiction Clinics © Photo Credit: CTRL-F5

During August a 15 year old was beaten to death and a 14 year old was hospitalized after a beating, in 2 separate incidents at Chinese internet addiction treatment facilities.

In July, China banned the use of electroshock therapy as a treatment for internet addiction. It has now added beatings and physical confinement to its list of unacceptable ‘treatments’.

Chinese doctors have defined internet addiction as staying online for more than 6 hours per day coupled with cravings for the internet and irritability when not online - and based on this definition, up to 10% of internet users under the age of 18 in China meet the diagnostic criteria – well over ten million teen internet addicts.

To meet this growing social problem, scores of largely unregulated internet addiction clinics have offered their services, with mixed and sometimes tragic results. In August, a 15 year old boy in Southern China died within a day of his arrival at a ‘boot camp’ style program, after spending much of the day in solitary confinement and after receiving beatings for running too slowly. A few days later, a 14 year old teen at another internet training center was hospitalized after a beating at the hands of the training center’s principal.

The outcry that followed these two events likely prompted the government into regulatory action, and the Chinese Ministry of Health has now released a draft statement of new guidelines, which call for health workers to “strictly prohibit restriction of personal freedom and physical punishments."

Subscribe Subscribe to this topic category
Creative Commons License
Copyright Notice
We welcome republishing of our content on condition that you credit Choose Help and the respective authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Helpful Information
Understanding Addiction - What You Need to Know
Understanding Addiction -  What You Need to Know © mediaspin.com
Want to understand addiction? Here are the straight facts from the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Read Article
Addictions April 16, 2012 (6)
4 Steps to Beating Sex or Internet Addiction Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz and his Four Step Program - through mindful awareness you can learn to overcome internet, gambling and sex cravings as you retrain your brain to stop sending such urgent messages of need. Read Article
Addiction Treatment January 25, 2016 (1)

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information.

Find Treatment
Browse by region »
Scan to call us
using your phone camera app