Don't send a child to a locked-down “internet addiction school” or “special training camp”: the law forbids using methods that harm body and mind to curb internet addiction, and children have been locked up to death

Cost

Free, and it saves you the tuition. The hard part is that, when the child is acting out the most, parents must hold back from handing the child over to outsiders for “closed-door discipline.”

What you get

Article 68 of the Law on the Protection of Minors (《未成年人保护法》) states that no organization or individual may use methods that harm a minor's physical or mental health to interfere with a minor's internet addiction. Both cases below have court judgments. The first is in Hefei, Anhui. In August 2017, the parents of an 18-year-old boy signed an agreement with a special training school to send him there to quit internet addiction. School staff took him away by force, locked him in a confinement room and handcuffed his hands to the window bars. They limited his food, water and rest, and beat him. After about 44 hours, the boy died. The finding was that he died of a water and electrolyte disorder caused by high temperature, a restricted body position, lack of food and drink, and external injuries. On October 31, 2018, the Hefei Intermediate People's Court (合肥市中级法院) gave its first-instance judgment. The head of the school was found guilty of intentional injury and unlawful detention and sentenced to 16 years. Four instructors were sentenced to between 1 year and 8 years 6 months. On December 28, 2018, the Anhui Provincial Higher People's Court (安徽省高级法院) upheld the judgment on appeal. The appeal ruling states that the school had not been approved by the relevant departments and that none of the defendants had teaching qualifications. The second is in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Yuzhang Academy opened in 2013 and was deregistered and closed in November 2017. While it operated, the school took some students into an “irritation relief room” and locked them in confinement, with staff assigned to guard them, for three to ten days at a time. On April 28, 2023, the Anyuan District Court in Pingxiang (萍乡市安源区法院) handed down its judgment on retrial at first instance: five defendants were guilty of unlawful detention. Four were sentenced to between two years ten months and eleven months and were barred for a set period from working in education-related jobs, and one was exempted from criminal punishment. The parents' demand for tuition and round-trip travel costs was not supported by the court (nationwide / Anhui / Jiangxi).

Notes

Graded C because there are only individual cases, and no statistics on how often these schools go wrong. The Hefei case is known only from media reports, which cite the first-instance judgment and the appeal ruling; the original judgment could not be found on the court's website. The Yuzhang Academy case is a court ruling reported by Xinhua. If a child loves gaming, first use §30.14 (a child who loves gaming) to check whether sleep, homework and getting outdoors are being squeezed out. If grades, sleep and family relationships all fall apart together and talking can't stop it, take the child to a psychiatry or child psychology department, and let a doctor diagnose and then treat. If a child has already been sent to such a place, bring the child home. If the child says they were locked up or beaten, call the police. The beneficiary is the child.

Evidence grade

C : The author's experience or common practice, without direct literature.

Sources

1. 全国人大常委会 (2024 年修正). 未成年人保护法（第六十八条）. https://flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff8081818f197cf001905e567af635a0
2. 红星新闻 (2019-02-20). 追热点·18岁少年被铐着关禁闭两天死亡，戒网瘾学校5人获刑. https://static.cdsb.com/micropub/Articles/201902/5b98283216ea5d2e8eef7f8cb7d4dbbb.html（网页存档 https://web.archive.org/web/20261005013030/https://static.cdsb.com/micropub/Articles/201902/5b98283216ea5d2e8eef7f8cb7d4dbbb.html）
3. 新华社 (2023-04-28). 江西“豫章书院案”宣判 5名被告均服判不上诉. http://www.news.cn/2023-04/28/c_1129579126.htm（网页存档 http://web.archive.org/web/20230428212544/http://www.news.cn/2023-04/28/c_1129579126.htm）

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 30, tip 18. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer