IN CHINA, if you are a kid who spends a long time
online, you had better watch out. Your parents may send you off for
"treatment".
At the Internet Addiction Treatment Centre
in Beijing, children must take part in military-style activities,
including exercise drills and the singing of patriotic songs. They are
denied access to the internet. One of the first experiences internees
undergo is brain monitoring through electroencephalography (EEG). The
programme is run by psychologist Tao Ran, who claims the brains of
internet and heroin addicts display similarities. The rise of such centres has, in some
cases, been coupled with reports of brutality. One camp in Henan
province was recently criticised after it was alleged that a 19-year-old girl died following corporal punishment doled out by officers.
"We had heard stories about electroshocks, physical torture and confinement, but we found none of those," says Aldama. "The children usually get angry when they
know that they'll be locked in the centre, where parents put them
without prior notice. They deny suffering an addiction. But as time goes
by, I believe they are more sociable and calm. They get in better
physical shape thanks to the sports training," Aldama says.
source: newscientist Magazine.
0 comments:
Post a Comment