Do not send children to closed “internet addiction schools” or “special training camps”: harmful methods are prohibited by law, and children have died in confinement

No expense, and you save the tuition. The hard part is resisting the urge to hand your child over to outsiders for “closed discipline” when their behavior is at its worst.

Article 68 of the Law on the Protection of Minors prohibits any organization or individual from intervening in a minor’s internet addiction in a way that harms their physical or mental health. Both cases below have court decisions. The first was in Hefei, Anhui. In August 2017, an 18-year-old boy’s parents signed an agreement with a special training school to treat his internet addiction. School staff forcibly took him away, put him in an isolation room, and handcuffed both hands to the window bars. They restricted food, water, and rest and also beat him. About 44 hours later, he died. The forensic conclusion was death from fluid and electrolyte imbalance caused by heat, constrained posture, inadequate food and drink, and injuries. On October 31, 2018, the Hefei Intermediate People’s Court issued its first-instance judgment. The school head received 16 years for intentional injury and unlawful detention. Four instructors received 1 year to 8 years and 6 months. On December 28, 2018, the Anhui High People’s Court upheld the judgment on appeal. The appellate ruling stated that the school had no approval from the relevant authorities and none of the defendants had teaching qualifications. The second case was in Nanchang, Jiangxi. Yuzhang Academy opened in 2013 and deregistered and closed in November 2017. While operating, it placed some students in a “distress relief room” under guard for three to ten days at a time. On April 28, 2023, the Anyuan District People’s Court in Pingxiang announced a first-instance judgment after retrial: five defendants committed unlawful detention. Four received sentences from two years and ten months to eleven months and were barred from education-related occupations for specified periods; one was exempted from criminal punishment. The court did not support parents’ requests for tuition and round-trip travel compensation (nationwide / Anhui / Jiangxi).

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；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）；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）

Rated C because these are individual cases, with no statistics on how often such schools have incidents. The Hefei case was found only in media reports quoting the first-instance judgment and appellate ruling; the original decisions were not found on the court’s website. The Yuzhang Academy decision was reported by Xinhua. If a child enjoys gaming, first use Item 14 in this section (a child loves gaming) to check whether sleep, homework, and outdoor activity are being displaced. If grades, sleep, and family relationships all collapse and persuasion cannot get them to stop, take them to psychiatry or child psychology for diagnosis and treatment by a doctor. If already enrolled, bring the child home. If the child says they were confined or beaten, call the police. The beneficiary is the child.