Chinese 'Web Addicts' Get Boot Camp, Therapy
Tao Ran, the founder of a youth rehabilitation center on a Beijing army base, has made it his mission to treat teenagers who are antisocial, doing poorly in school and are sometimes depressed.
By Owen Fletcher
Tao's course is expensive. Each month of treatment runs parents 8,400 yuan (US$1,200), more than half the monthly income for urban Chinese, according to China's statistics bureau.
But parents have been even more generous in rare cases. One father was so ecstatic over his son's improvement that he donated 200,000 yuan to the center.
Still, only about 70 percent of the teenagers are "cured," as judged by whether the parents are satisfied, Tao said.
And the others? "They do change to some degree," Tao said. "But still they go on playing games."
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