Foreign Affairs
China Says Its Done Torturing Children At Internet Addiction Boot Camps
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China has drafted a new law to prevent electroshock therapy as a cure for internet addiction.
Chinese internet detox camps have received a lot of negative attention in recent years for their brutal and barbaric approaches to dealing with internet addiction, a growing problem in China. The country is now determined to find a more suitable method for dealing with the issue.
The new law will ban electroshock therapy, as well as prevent individuals and organizations from forcing children into treatment programs or abusing them in the process.
Treatment facilities are not permitted to engage in activities that infringe on patients’ legitimate rights or prove detrimental to their mental and physical health.
The law is being reviewed by the public, but it is unclear when the law will go into effect.
Electroshock or electroconvulsive therapy is a legitimate medical technique for some medical conditions, one of which is reportedly not addiction, the China Youth Daily reported last August.
China tried taking a stand on the use of electroshock therapy as a treatment for addiction in 2009.
“Electroshock therapy for internet addiction has no foundation in clinical research or evidence and therefore is not appropriate for clinical application,” the Ministry of Health stated at the time.
One of the primary focuses of Chinese attempts to curb abusive therapies and punitive practices is a facility in Linyi, Shangdong that has “treated” thousands of children.
Yang Yongxin, head of the Internet Addiction Treatment Center at Linyi Mental Hospital, reportedly introduced electroshock therapy as a treatment for internet addiction.
Neither Yang nor his six colleagues were qualified psychotherapists, reports indicated.
The new draft law will attempt to reduce the addiction problem by limiting the amount of time people can spend online at internet cafes and bars.
As the current draft law is not China’s first attempt to end electroshock therapy as an internet addiction treatment, some observers fear the law will do little to address the situation.
China is home to over 250 internet addiction camps, and while the practice is highly destructive, electroshock therapy is not the only abusive element at the camps.
Children are often abducted and forced into these facilities without their consent. While some facilities offer legitimate treatments, such as psychological counseling, physical exercise, and, if necessary, prescription drugs provided by a certified medical professional, others practice brutality as the norm.
16-year-old Chen Xinran from Heilongjiangn murdered her mother by tying her up and starving her, after she was locked in a “terrifying cage” at an internet addiction boot camp in Shandong for four month.
Reports indicate that the harsh treatment she received at the camp may have caused her to lash out violently.
A 19-year-old girl died at one of these camps in Henan in 2014.
The girl was dropped from a semi-dangerous height repeatedly for over two hours. She eventually started vomiting blood and passed out, leading the trainers to start kicking her over and over again. Medical professionals were unable to revive her — the girl died from her injuries.
Some patients commit suicide, and others throw notes out the windows begging for help.
According to a 2009 report by the China Youth Association for Network Development, 24 million Chinese people between the ages of 13 and 29 were considered “digital addicts.”
China has an estimated 700 million internet users.
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