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Teen Killed At Chinese Internet Addiction Camp
eldavojohn writes "Sixteen-year-old Deng Senshan was tragically beaten to death by three of his instructors in an internet addiction camp in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Reportedly it was for not being able to run fast enough. An article in the Wall Street Journal says that, 'China's netizens have played a key role in drawing nationwide attention to recent cases of deaths in prisons and detention centers, so it should be no surprise that they are up in arms over the fate of one of their own. Many questioned the fairly new diagnosis of "Internet addiction" as a mental disorder.' You may recall electroshock treatment being banned from use on internet addicts in China. According to Xinhua, more than 100 juveniles remain in 'treatment' at the camp, which has stayed open. Perhaps for Senshan it would have been better to let him endure his cruel affliction instead of having his parents pay over $1,000 to have him beaten to death?"
Don't worry, he'll respawn in a few seconds
On the upshot, that kid is no longer addicted to gaming...
crazy dynamite monkey
If internet addition is now punishable by death, Slashdot is going to become a very, very lonely place.
Perhaps for Senshan it would have been better to let him endure his cruel affliction instead of having his parents pay over $1,000 to have him beaten to death?
And knowing China, they probably also charged his parents for the cost of the stick used to beat him.
Also, I don't know much about these "internet addiction" facilities. Are we talking about people who spend too much time playing WoW, or dissidents who use the internet for communication? Somehow I'm seeing this as being a gulag for political prisoners, but maybe that's just me being cynical.
I can only wonder if there have been other deaths in this program that did not make the news.
Reportedly it was for not being able to run fast enough
If only China had the same attitude towards Windows...
Wow. Not to let me heart bleed all over the place here, but... what? This was a needless death in a camp that didn't need to exist run by instructors who used "punishment" that wasn't appropriate. He had an "internet addiction"... he wasn't a murderer. You don't think this is somehow newsworthy on a site devoted to geeks and geek-related stuff? I just love these "so what people die every day" type posts. So, just to be clear, it's overkill to mourn a school shooting because more people are dying in Darfur, right?
Solution: Greasemonky script that retrieves a list of updated goatse-style sites... and at random intervals redirects you to one of those pages instead of the link you clicked. Granted, a different kind of shock therapy, but I'd imagine its pretty effective. (or at least, you won't browse if there's someone else in the room!)
Evolution - Est. 4500000000 B.C. Don't piss in the gene pool.
A larger tragedy doesn't make this one any less important. It is more relatable, too: ./ers probably feel more in common with this kid that 3 year olds dying in Somalia, so it's news here.
I think the shocking thing is *why* he died - someone killed him. He didn't just starve or get malaria or something - he was murdered.
I'm a student. I write iPhone apps.
Look people, tragedies happen all the time. For every poor kid beaten to death in China at a "gaming addiction recovery camp", there's thousands more dying of starvation and illnesses in other parts of the world.
This isn't news. This is China. Do you expect differently?
So because the numbers are small, we should ignore it? If you were raped and murdered we could go to the police with your logic and say, "Look, for every person raped and murdered thousands die in automobile accidents on the streets so don't waste your time with this case."
The fact that 'internet addiction' is ill defined and that this was a CHILD not an adult and the fact that it's government run should cause alarm bells to ring even if it is only one case. How do you know the action of beating children is not commonplace and applied to thousands of so called "internet addicts"? How do you know this isn't an attempt to weed out would-be dissidents at an early age?
Your compliance amazes me. Yes, hunger and starvation is a problem but so is this we can report about this on Slashdot and read about hunger and food shortages on CNN.
I'm sorry but "this is China" does not cause me to close my eyes to unalienable human rights that every human being in the world deserves!
My work here is dung.
When I saw this, I couldn't help but think about the classical Rowan Atkinson sketch.
Does anyone else see the irony in sending a bunch of computer nerds to camp, and charging them a nice even binary number to do it?
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Did he drop any good items?
In America, you can beat internet addiction. In communist China, internet addiction beats you.
This isn't news. This is China. Do you expect differently?
From you? Not really. From people like you, I expect braindead nonsense whenever the subject contains the word "China" or other related subjects.
For the rest of us - I think it is worth noting that TFA mentions that "a police officer" states that "We are investigating a case where a high school student was beaten to death by his camp supervisors. The case is still under investigation" - IOW, a representative of the local officialdom talks openly about this case to a newsagency, in much the same way as a London police officer would, and refuses to give further details because they are still investigating, just like elsewhere in the world.
The reason I feel the need to draw attention to this is, that it seems to escape the attention of some. Do I need to spell it out any further? There is no "Government Coverup" here; no reasons to hate the Chinese for being Chinese.
You fucking hypocrite. You are sitting on /. typing your rant on a computer that was largely made with Chinese parts/labor, probably wearing shoes/clothing that were made in China and god knows what else. I'm sorry but you don't get to throw stones when you live in a glass house.
I submitted this story in an attempt to raise awareness in our community about a death in an internet addiction camp. Who knows how many others there have been prior to this? And what, stone thrower, have you done?
... not pushing my ideals and isms on the sovereign people of China. Basic human rights are the only thing I push and I'm prepared to argue that.
And now you're criticizing me for purchasing Chinese products? What the hell does that have to do with this? You think the solution is for us to band together and boycott Chinese products? Do you really believe that causing their economic structure to collapse would be the answer? Did trade embargoes work for North Korea and pre-war Iraq?
I'm an American citizen, I have no control over the sovereign nation of China. All I can hope to do is get word out to everyone around the world and hopefully spread news to the citizens of China so they take action. A revolution from the outside is meaningless and often dangerous/deadly/destructive.
I don't want Chinese people to suffer, that's it. I don't care if their system is Communist, Capitalist, Dictatorship or Democracy. Get the word out so they fix it. Go ahead and call me a hypocrite but I'm doing what little I can by spreading facts and news
My work here is dung.
Why is this guy modded Troll??
Probably because he was trolling.
This is especially sad to me because I'm not really against the idea of an "Internet addiction camp" in general. Real addiction can come in many forms, and it deserves being considered for treatment. But this just shows once again how (in this case very ironically) out of touch Chinese officials are with the concept of moderation.
I see the glass as full with a FoS of 2.
Just because China has a "communist" government doesn't mean they murder children at random. The Cold War is over, you can come outside now.
This sort of thing happens all the time in the states. Google "Aaron Bacon" and he's hardly the only one. US boot camps have a really bad history in this area only nobody seems to care very much since they kids were somehow "troubled" (allegedly, since there is no due process).
While I agree with most of what you had to say, I find it interesting that *this* makes news on slashdot while hundreds of people in the US are beaten (and sometimes killed) for being gay, but we don't seem to be as outraged. Thousands are routinely abused in mental institutions and elder care facilities (and again, many die) and again, it's not as apparent that slashdotters feel the need to draw attention to it. Is this because it's our *own* dirty laundry or simply because it didn't involve the words "internet addiction"? The OP mentions electroshock as being only recently banned, but it was routinely used here in the US for everything from dementia to compulsive behavior and is STILL used in the US to treat severe depression. It just reminds me of the kind of cultural hypocrisy you see in things like Discovery Channel's Whale Wars - US whale activists fight with Japanese whalers, (who utilize every part of the whale, btw) when the US used to slaughter entire whale populations wholesale, only to extract the oil and leave the carcasses to rot. The US helped drive the whales into extinction, and now we have this "born again virgin" attitude about other countries. I'm just saying if we spent half as much time cleaning our own back yards, we wouldn't have time to complain about our neighbors. You want to bring attention to injustices? There are plenty here to work on.
There is a larger problem. Chinese parents _paid_ money to send their kids into these needless camps to be "cured" of this so called "internet addiction". It's exactly the same as how American parents _paid_ money to send their kids into these needless camps to be "cured" of homosexuality. In the end, it's those panicky, ill informed, and lazy parents who entrust others with their children without actually bother doing proper research on the subject matter, the people who operate the camp, and their own children that cause pointless deaths like this. I am rather disappointed in the Chinese population today. In all honesty, learning from the western culture doesn't mean they should replicate mistakes in the western cultures too.
Where is the "Ignorant" mod tag?
"Reportedly it was for not being able to run fast enough."
Isn't that the reason why anyone gets beaten to death?
While I agree with most of what you had to say, I find it interesting that *this* makes news on slashdot while hundreds of people in the US are beaten (and sometimes killed) for being gay, but we don't seem to be as outraged. Thousands are routinely abused in mental institutions and elder care facilities (and again, many die) and again, it's not as apparent that slashdotters feel the need to draw attention to it.
Unfortunately, something that happens frequently isn't considered "news", no matter how much of a tragedy it is.
I can only wonder if there have been other deaths in this program that did not make the news.
Probably. What I can't believe is that no one seems to be questioning the assumptions of this nonsense (or if they are, the media in its usual incompetent or complicit way is ignorning it): that internet addiction even exists, period.
The very concept is farcical. Like "television addiction", there may be people whose lifestyles are too sedentary, whose lives center more on the couch or computer than most of us are comfortable with, but come on! As Ricky Gervais said when discussing obeisity: "this is not a disease". It's a lifestyle choice, and one that certainly does not deserve incarceration or treatment of any kind, much less lethal abuse!
This whole thing reminds me of the quacks using electroshock therepy to "cure" homosexuality", as has been done in Utah and China in the 1990s and perhaps even more recently. Bigotry dressed up as outreach treatment, only this time its Geeks instead of Gays.
What's next...curing an unruly kid of their addiction to oxygen by putting a pillow over their face and making them go "cold turkey"?
Infinitely absurd and moronic, all of it.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
There was an interesting, personal account of what its like in these treatment centers in the March 2007 issue of Harpers. http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/03/0081438 [not free, sadly]
really? wow... that's reallywow.
I wonder what the trade deficit would be if they actually respected our intellectual property and paid the going rate for it instead of stealing it?
Good point. It's also ironic since most of /. would have you believe that piracy isn't stealing, and yet their own lives might be noticeably better if stated countries paid for, instead of pirated, American software.
Ironic? I don't know if that's the right word for it. That is nothing like rain on your wedding day, for instance.
I mean, look - yes, some people take that stance, that software piracy isn't "stealing". That point alone is just splitting hairs over terminology. The choice of words there is designed to make people sympathize with the copyright holders, and I think people don't always appreciate that sort of spin.
And then also consider - when we have a stance on what we consider right and wrong, in principle that should not be governed by what is best for ourselves, personally. This is why I don't see this situation as "ironic". If a specific person said both that they think copyright infringement is okay and that China's copyright infringement is bad, that would be hypocritical... But if someone believes copyright infringement is okay and doesn't care about China's copyright infringement or the economic consequences thereof, that's consistent. They've taken their stance and stuck to it.
Bow-ties are cool.
Hell. I'll give you a very long list. If you think it's bad enough that the kids are dead, look up how they died. Check out Michelle Sutton's story. A while back the GAO did an investigative report on it. Written report here. Video of hearing here. There was a second report and hearing as well but that mainly concentrated on deceptive marketing practices (how the kids end up in these places). Has anything been done yet about it? Nope. The congressman Miller acted mighty angry in the hearings but the regulation legislation get anywhere (not that it would have done much anyway)... nope!
Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baronâ(TM)s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be âcuredâ(TM) against oneâ(TM)s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. - C.S Lewis - the Humanitarian Theory of Punishment
Just because China has a "communist" government doesn't mean they murder children at random. The Cold War is over, you can come outside now.
They are murderers and it has nothing to do with the label they stick on it on their government; they're a totalitarian regime.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
I liked these "Internet Addiction Camps" better when they were called "Summer Camp".
Seriously, when I got too into games as a kid (Dragon Warrior 3, Wizardry 2, and Final Fantasy 2 being the early ones) my mother just walked in, hit the power button, and told me to go outside and not come back in until the sun was down.
Why is this such a hard concept? Is it an asian culture thing? I mean, think of Japan. You have hikikomoris, sitting in the dark in their rooms, with parents enabling them by just feeding them sliced cheese through the crack under the door. China and Kroea have people literally playing video games until their bladders burst and they die.
Granted, A+ for effort but big fat F for common sense, eh?
Is "He'll leave the room when he gets hungry enough" or "Just turn off the freaking router" such a hard concept?
Hindus believe that you respawn on the same server but the new character type and class depend on your current Karma rating.
For some reason, I feel that I will do fine when I respawn as a troll.
i'm sure there are holidays camps or scouts or whatever goes hiking away from wifi
In China? Maybe. I don't really know what is available for kids in China. However, if we're talking about clinical addiction, such a simplistic view of a cure is just as bad as this approach. I'll agree that parents are likely to blame because they are the most likely enabler for the addicted child. But once you have reached clinical addiction levels, it is extremely difficult to break, and most people will struggle with it for most of their lives.
I see the glass as full with a FoS of 2.
By your argument, the Chinese murdered children at random because they underengineered some school houses in an earthquake-prone region. What about New Orleans, where our government, with a gajillion times the resources of an impoverished Chinese provincial town, failed to construct adequate levees in a similarly disaster-prone region and exacerbated the loss of life with inadequate relief efforts? Should I even mention the TVA coal ash spill ? While we don't have the level of political repression the Chinese government perpetrates, we had our fair share of coverups and misinformation surrounding both of those incidents. Please stop throwing stones--you're going to get our glass house shattered in short order.
Bringing the conversation back on topic, what happened was a tragedy and, in my humble estimation, could have happened anywhere in the world. The amount of abuse perpetrated in our nursing homes, for instance, is appalling. What caught my eye is that they even have camps in an attempt to address the issue of "internet addiction"--have you guys seen this elsewhere, or is it as Chinese a phenomenon as "fat camps" might be an American one?
And now you're criticizing me for purchasing Chinese products? What the hell does that have to do with this?
Many of these products (and/or their parts/ingredients) are manufactured in prison labor camps where many more than one person has died. Not that I disagree with your rant, in general, but you should know that by buying Chinese products you are supporting a system that has killed many more than the unfortunate individual in this article. As such, your outrage over this death seems somewhat suspect, somewhat like a person's who condemns the death of baby seals, but sees no trouble having cows killed so he can eat.
That is all.