OPINION> FROM THE CHINESE PRESS
Counseling can free kids of Net
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-21 07:57

Parents who subject their kids to electric shocks, brain surgery or other violent methods in rehabilitation centers to wean them away from the Internet should determine what led to their addiction in the first place, and try to be their friends, philosophers and guides, says an article in the Beijing News. Excerpt:

Fifteen-year-old Deng Senshan, was beaten to death by instructors at a rehabilitation center for Internet addicts in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on Aug 4. It's a tragedy indeed that parents wanted to free Deng of his addiction, but because of the wrong method they chose they freed him of his life.

Desperate parents should draw a lesson from the Ministry of Health, which banned the use of electric-shock therapy on Internet addicts last month to deter people from using violence on kids.

Parents only reveal their incompetence and antiquated mentality by resorting to harsh measures to rid their kids of their Net addiction. In fact, some parents don't know what really their kids think and want.

Parents should spend more time with their kids, try to be their friends and find out what they are most concerned about. Encouraging kids to mix more with family members and friends, read books and enjoy the gifts of nature will help to keep them away from the Net.

But since prevention is always better than cure, parents of young kids should encourage them toward sport and outdoor activities.

A kid's Internet addiction can be cured through psychological methods, not violent therapy, which could actually impair their future.

(China Daily 08/21/2009 page9)