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Chinese "Web Addicts" Get Boot Camp, Therapy
itwbennett writes "A large number of Chinese parents are finding their teenagers to be exhibiting such psychological symptoms as depression, antisocial behavior, and slipping grades. The cause: Internet addiction. World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike rank beside Chinese role-playing games as those that hook the most patients, says Tao Ran, the founder of a youth rehabilitation center on a Beijing army base. Online chat programs more often hook girls, who make up a handful of Tao's current 70 patients. The teens are subjected to a 'strict regimen of military drills, martial arts training, lectures and sessions with psychiatrists.' And, most importantly: no Internet."
I would think of this as more of a "News" Article than anything else
"This is the value of a summer spent and a winter earned"
I can stop whenever i want.... just let me post one more time....
Also a great way of recruiting for their already massive army...
http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
World of Warcraft and Counter-Strike... those that hook the most patients (boys)
Online chat programs more often hook girls
Why am I not surprised that the girls like to talk and the boys like to play combat (remember cowboys and indians? cops and robbers?).
Very indicative of our society as a whole. Just sayin' . . .
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
I saw the title and thought of the Windows compatibility software. Maybe I need some of that therapy...
Because as we all know, the whole internet is evil. There are obviously no good uses for it, and obviously, it is all games and time wasters.
American - kill all your allies in 'friendly' fire incidents. Full auto on anything that moves, may move or have previously moved. Aw Hell full auto on anything.
Chinese (according to the Geneva Convention on war ) Day 1 - One million unarmed troops invade Alaska and surrender.
Day 2 - One million unarmed troops invade Alaska and surrender.
Day 3 - One million unarmed troops invade Alaska and surrender.
.
.
Day 5 - US economy collapses US surrenders.
What's the grind like once you hit level 30?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
.. exposure to girls.
Here goes his business model:
1, Preach on media the harm of "Internet Addiction" on children.
2, Tell irresponsible parents that it's not their fault (which actually is).
3, Open an "Internet Addition" rehab.
4, Charge rediculous fees.
5, Abuse his patients untill they promise (or pretend to promise) they will never play World of Warcraft (or whatever their parents deem as harmful) again.
6, Parents get pleased and more parents send their kids to his rehab.
7, PROFIT!
After all, I must say he's slightly better than the ultimate asshole named Yang Yongxin. At least he doesn't employ high voltage shock therapy in his rehab.
FTA:
"...The teens are subjected to a strict regimen of military drills, martial arts training, lectures..."
So they're teaching these depressed internet-addicted teens to be real-life ninjas? Here in the US, being a depressed internet-addicted teen gets you beat-up at school and rejected by women.
You win this round, China.
50 years ago, going out was the norm. 20 years ago, occasionally going out was the norm.
Today, spending an evening at home is the norm, where it's cheaper and you can connect with someone halfway across the world who you know will share your interests, and not spurn you(and if they do, you can find someone else). You're also not faced with personal problems such as personal performance, social anxiety, or the real fear of making an ass out of yourself, etc. There's people you never have to face, but will listen.
Move forward 10 years, as the new kiddie-tech generation moves even further online? I see individuals who will prefer to remain connected at all costs because of this. We have people now who need to know all information at all times, need make sure that they're in instant contact with the world around them. And are experiencing this now.
I don't see it changing, I see it increasing. China, US, Canada, any country in the world can do whatever they like to try and change it. But the more interconnected the world becomes, the smaller it gets. The smaller it gets, the more people want to remain connected to it.
Om, nomnomnom...
If this works in China, it will be the next Obama Youth program...
Similar to the upcoming US election results
Take a bunch of kids that like to sit around playing games and browsing for porn, isolate them from friends and family, label them as "addicts", brainwash them, put rifles in their hands and train them how to kill people, then declare them "cured". I'm glad that society has its priorities right.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Having gone through Boot Camp myself (Not in China mind you) I highly recommend it as a means of turning useless people into productive citizens.
Take what ye can. Give nothing back!
Let the Han kids and the Uighur kids duke it out on some deserted corner of Xinjiang. That'll teach them. Maybe they'll even come with some ideas to help their parents sort things out.
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Most students that I teach in China (18-22) can't afford the computer required, so they play WOW and CS at their Internet bar. These places are usually dark, dingy and full of second-hand cigarette smoke. They make some of my teenage hacker basements look positively healthy. So I think it's not that the parents are really worried about the length of time spent playing, it's the conditions they are played under.
Children might take drugs without their parents' knowledge, but never excessive food. Whether a morbidly fat kid has become subject to a debilitating and horrible situation is debatable, but if the answer is "yes", then parents should take a lot of supervisory blame.
This has been going on there for YEARS! I mean really just look at what a simple search returns on this subject.
Communism will never work. People LIKE to own things.
Boot Camp? But.. are Web Addicts only Mac Users?
...re-education camps.
THL phish sticks
Let's see ... the symptoms are depression, antisocial behavior, and slipping grades. Except perhaps for the last one, that sounds like any teenager I've ever met.
I am a bit ambivalent about this approach. On one hand, the Chinese government is trying to shape today's youth into something which will contribute to society. On the other, there could be unnecessary victims and they could end up screwed up and this approach might work in Creating a counter productive individual for society. I hope the good outweighs the bad but that will not be found out so soon.
It's much better than electroconvulsive therapy, which they have used.
I really don't think this is going to work, I've been through boot camp (USMC), and once I went back to civilian life (I had a shoulder injury that prevented me from finishing the last week of training and then going on to serve.) I was pretty much the same person. The only difference is when I came out I had military training, I feel more calm in stressful situations than I did before, and I'm more confident in my fighting and survival abilities. I still play video games and browse the internet as much as I did before I joined the Marines. So if you go into boot camp as an internet addicted teenager you're going to come out as an internet addicted teenager, with military training. Unless they're sending them into the army right after they're not going to keep in that mindset, they're going to go back to the internet and their video games. Perhaps sending them to a summer camp where they have many activities to choose from would be a better idea. Hikes through the woods, swimming, sports, and being encourage to speak to other people and socialize would be good for these people. The boot camp seems like it would be too much like work for these kids and they would just resent it rather than enjoy it.
... where's my boot camp and interventionist therapy?
Cause the girls will be getting exposed to WoW players. Even Dick Cheney would be reluctant to use that kind of torture.
This is, btw, also why DARE is pretty much a waste of time and taxpayer money. But that's not the topic now.
What is "addiction"? Basically that the body (or mind) wants some stimulus that you handed him for a long time. Why does it want it? Because the stimulus was/is positive and not getting it is subjectively negative.
Which leads to the crucial question: Why did you start taking/using it in the first place? It's not like someone goes "Hey, it's Tuesday, it's colder than outside, let's start pumping heroin up our veins!" That's not how it works. Hell, by now pretty much everyone knows that addictive substances and behaviour are, in the long run, bad for you. Do you think anyone who started pushing thought H is "not really so bad"?
Drugs are a last resort means for people who have no other way to get a positive stimulus to their system. The worse they're off, the worse the drug they'll be willing to use. Let's be honest here, anyone here pushing H? Anyone? Somehow, I doubt it. Maybe we have a few ex addicts here, in that case the question to you: Were you as "well off" back then as you're now?
China, with its one-child policy, imposed an insane pressure on its youth. Parents only have one child to carry on their legacy, and that child has to PERFORM! Add a confucianist ideal and a booming market where anyone "smart working hard" can become rich and important, and you'll notice that not even a "western" only child can possible imagine what the pressure is like.
So, to make a long story short, those "boot camps" (and similar programs all over the planet, albeit maybe not as brutal) will not accomplish anything. Worst case they'll make it worse. They try to cure the symptom, but that won't solve the underlying problem. Addiction is never the problem itself. Take away an addict's "substance" but fail to solve the problem behind it and he'll just search for something new.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
So? We've all seen female Elves nak... Oh, you mean real girls!
They do exist?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Chinese parents are better off having boys than girls, so there aren't enough girls. Maybe that's part of the problem.
What the military does is most certainly brainwashing.
Then maybe they need a better detergent, or something.
My brain came out of bootcamp (1978) no cleaner than it was before...probably grungier!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
"A large number of Chinese parents are finding their teenagers to be exhibiting such psychological symptoms as depression, antisocial behavior, and slipping grades."
Sounds like my kids and they don't spend more than 5 mins thinking about anything let alone the internet!
This BS sounds like the section in the "Decline and Fall" where the kids into metal get shipped of to "metal-detox" camps to learn to love Jesus and let go of this awful music that is leading them to "depression, antisocial behavior, and slipping grades".
Didn't Hypocrites pre-BC, write similar stuff, stating kids were being tricked into not paying attention and not working, by their idols at the time?
I not sure if parent post think this is good or bad, but to put it simply, I dealt with enough a**holes during the day while working, if there is a way for me to keep in touch with my friends without dealing with any more a**holes, sign me up.
50 years ago, you practically cannot interact with your friends without at least N-1 of you "going out", even if it is just next door. So unless you want to be left out, you have to "go out" most of the time.
20 years ago, you can somewhat keep in touch with most of your friends using the phone, so the need to "go out" becomes less.
Now, not only can you chat (voice/text) with all your friends together, you also can have a lot of interactions online, which used to be only possible by getting together (e.g. game of poker, risk, etc). So the need to have N-1 people "go out" just to get together is nearly nil. Wow, no surprise the generation that most used to interact online do not feel the need to physically go out at all.
Criticizing them for not "going out" is the same as a bat criticizing an owl for not interacting with the environment because the owl is no emitting sonar beeps. The owl has vision sees the environment in a way the bat cannot comprehend.
In the same way, the newer generation is interacting and "going out" online, unfortunately some older generation who hardly grasp email is unable to comprehend the level of interaction going on and assume the kid is "hiding himself".
Trying to cut the kid off the net to make him "go out" will be as useful as blinding the owl to get it to use sonar like a bat. It's not going to work. You just got to accept the fact the kids growing up now will interact with friends differently than you did.
Oliver.
This notion of comparing teens who use the Internet, to teens who spend their time in gyms, going out in public all day chatting to people, is a false dichotomy. Consider the majority of teens who, before the Internet, simply stayed at home, and rarely socialised outside of schooltime. Did we have boot camps for them?
The fact that WoW is not "useful" is beside the point. It's meant to be a leisure activity.
And how useful is bootcamp, btw, for someone who has no interest in joining the army? How will having "Drill sergeants shout orders" at them improve their social skills for real life? How much opportunity will there be to practice their mathematics, when they're getting woken up at 6.20am to dress up in uniforms and march around, and learn how to fight?
Shooting things in a game is bad, but learning to kill people for real is acceptable?
How useful is posting to Slashdot? Shall we off you to boot camp?
...so now when they get back home, and the parent tries to pull them off the internet (or tell the kids to do/not to do anything), the kids are now eqiupped with the skills to kick the parent's ass. Great thinking!
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 SU CK IT MP AA
Obviously, socialism does have its benefits, as long as they don't force them to use Vista.
Ask Me About... The 80's!
I don't agree. A family I know had two kids. One of them got addicted to video games. The one who didn't went to work at a highly respected company and is quite successful. The one who played games dropped out of school and moved back in with his parents. This guy is a hell of a lot smarter than me, so it isn't some intelligence issue. They grew up in the same environment, had the same opportunities, yet have vastly different lives. There were no bad conditions in his life to force him in to addiction. Games are fun. If you play a lot, you can get really good and people will look up to you. That feels good. But at the end of the day, it doesn't pay the bills. If you can get the kids away from the Internet, it might break the cycle. They might get over their social fears and realize that the real world is more interesting and has more meaningful rewards.
You like to pass these off as ineffective, but I bet you it actually does help a lot of people. They might enjoy the martial arts they learn and keep that up. They might realize that they do spend too much time playing games and forge friendships that mean they will get out more. Will it work for everyone? Of course not. But to say it won't accomplish anything is talking out your ass.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
I could be considered as much an internet junky as anyone and I can tell you it's bullshit... after 6 years in IT I needed a break and went for the real thing. I joined the Marine Corps and went off to boot camp. 3 months and I didn't shake, shiver, flip out, or have a break down. People have some crazy shit in their heads. Whatever; go on thinking you need to be born again. Or just walk away from the computer. I'm back doing the system administrator thing now and just as happy in front of the computer; I do take time out to go outside and do some camping, hiking, or even just walking trails in the park for a few hours.
"What is "addiction"? Basically that the body (or mind) wants some stimulus that you handed him for a long time."
Incorrect.
You just described dependence. Dependence is NOT addiction. Anything that alters brain chemistry can conceivably lead to dependence (meds, activities, etc.)
"Why does it want it? Because the stimulus was/is positive and not getting it is subjectively negative."
If you are dependent on a substance you will get withdrawal symptons. Perfectly normal. Does not indicate addiction.
I wish I had an intelligent comment to make on a story like this.. but this, and things like it, piss me off so much that I get virutally incoherent. China has NO concept of human rights.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
D.A.R.E. is basically the reason I started experimenting with drugs. Been having a damn good time too! Thanks D.A.R.E.!!
There is a war going on for your mind.
Heres a and article about Korea. 60 Minutes or Dateline ran a story on these.
Bingo. People do hard drugs because they are miserable, not the other way around. If you treat the cause and help people get their lives on track, help find new activities, the'll quit drugs on their own as their lives won't be so miserable and they won't need something to dull the pain. It's why I tell anybody considering drinking or using drugs for the first time: "NEVER use substances to dull pain."
Incarcerating people without due process and brainwashing, yes, brainwashing them into thinking and behaving in a different manner is NEVER beneficial in any country in any form, ever. It's rape of the mind and until you've experienced it, you'll never know quite how painful it is when you realize what they did. Even if you "behave" better afterward, it's not really you. If you want to help people, *convince* them to change or choose other paths of their own volition but don't force them. In the long run it never works.
Mark my words. In time, you will hear *horrible* stories out of these places in China. The boot camps in the states were bad enough to inspire congressional hearings... I can hardly imagine what these kids will have to go through and I guarantee it won't be what they advertise.
And some called waterboarding torture, but in the face of this....
Your emotional outburst here makes me suspect that you have serious body image issues. Go talk to someone about it. Off the Internet.
Typical inmate:
¦-(