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China bans physical punishment for Internet addicts

China's Ministry of Health has banned the use of physical punishment to wean teens off the net, months after a boy was beaten to death at an Internet boot camp. Chinese parents have turned to more than 200 organisations offering treatment for Internet "disorders" as the government increasingly warns of unhealthy Internet habits among the young. he death of 15-year-old Deng Senshan, just hours after he checked into an Internet bootcamp in the southwestern Guangxi region in early August, caused a media storm in China.

When intervening to prevent improper use of the Internet, we should ... strictly prohibit restriction of personal freedom and physical punishments," the ministry said in a draft guideline for Internet use by minors, posted on its website. It appeared to have dropped the term "Internet addiction", widely used in earlier ministry documents, perhaps in a bid to calm worried parents who fuelled a mushrooming business of harsh camps to prevent teens from spending hours online.

Reuters Technology News

Posted by | Sun, Nov 08, 2009 - 10:47 AM