Internet 'Addicts' Escape Chinese 'Rehab' Center

from the they-googled-'how-to-escape' dept

We're still amazed that some psychologists and psychiatrists have been trying to get "internet addiction" officially recognized. Nearly all the studies on the subject show that it's not the "internet" that people are addicted to. In cases where people are acting in a manner where they don't want to give up their connection, it's usually due to some other serious problem that they're trying to avoid or escape. However, the Chinese have been pushing the concept of "internet addiction" for years, with some fun ideas on how to "cure" people -- from shock therapy to detox units with electric acupuncture and drugs. Then there was the summer camp for internet addicts.

Apparently, though, those so-called addicts aren't happy. Fourteen kids sent to a Chinese "rehabilitation" camp by their parents recently escaped from the center they were in -- though, without their internet connection to guide them, all were recaptured quickly (that's a joke: they were caught after they were unable to pay cab fare). Rather than recognizing that harsh treatments to cure a non-existent problem might not make much sense, all of the parents sent their kids right back.

Filed Under: addiction, china, escape, internet addicts