ALBAWABA - Some social media users were buzzed with the presence of Internet addiction schools in China after a clip circulated online. However, China does have more than one Internet addiction school.
CNN reported in 2020 that China opened several hundred centers in recent years amid rising concerns around the amount of time young people spend on screens.
In the trending video, at the beginning, two people were seen carrying a woman and forcibly placing her in one of the internet addiction schools. In the footage, the daughter was seen crying as she didn't want to enter the center, but her family forcibly signed her.
Other clips were also posted on social media showing teenagers being forced to enter internet addiction boot camps to heal from internet addiction and the long hours they spend usually online.
According to some social media users, the number of young Chinese forced to enter internet addiction centers has jumped following the release of Genshin Impact video game which leads young people to addiction.
According to media sources, the camps have become very common in Cina after the country's decision to officially recognize internet addiction as a mental disorder in 2008. However, some people in China allegedly reported some serious physical abuse inside the schools.
In 2017, a family were shocked by their son's death less than two days after he was checked in one of the camps. The 18-year-old man, named Li Ao, was being treated at Hefei Zhengneng Education, however, it operates illegally, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.
