China is investigating the death of a teenager who was allegedly beaten to death in a camp designed to treat internet addiction.
Deng Senshan, 15, died less than a day after his parents sent him to the camp in southern Guangxi province.
The case has led medical experts to call for laws regulating centers that treat obsessive web surfing. Concern over such behavior is so widespread in China, and demand for rehabilitation is so great, that some camps now advertise on television, the report said.
Deng was found vomiting and was taken to a clinic where he died. Fellow students said a teacher beat him.
Tao Ran, director of the country's first internet addiction treatment clinic at a military hospital in Beijing, told The Associated Press that deaths like these are bound to happen because few camps employ scientific methods, with most opting for crude military-style discipline.
Internet addiction is a big problem in China. 200 million internet users are between the ages of 15 and 35 and many lack self-control. Students in high school and college also face enormous pressure from parents to succeed academically.
Tao's clinic has treated about 5,000 internet addicts since 2004