A mother of one of my students came to see me today. She said she wanted to send her child to an internet addiction treatment school in Chongqing and asked what I thought.

Chongqing? Could it be the one in the news? How did she hear about it?

She said she saw it in a livestream. The teachers there claim they can solve any problem—even staying in bed all day or not eating on time. Tuition costs over 40,000 yuan.

That sounds exactly like what the news reported. There was a woman at that institution who was already 31. At two in the morning, four men pried open her window and took her away. She was held there for 159 days.

Thirty-one? Adults can just be taken away like that?

Her father was the one who paid them. When she refused to eat and wanted to leave, the instructors pried open her mouth and forced glucose water down her throat. When she refused to eat because the food had gone cold, they beat her and injured her. Her father could only look at the photos posted in the group chat, and said his daughter always looked dazed in them.

That’s terrifying. But this student really does play video games until midnight every day. Her mother has tried both gentle persuasion and harsh words—she truly feels she has no other option.

Even if she feels helpless, she can’t hand her child over to a place like that. Later, an investigation found that the institution didn’t even have a school operating license. It has now been ordered to send all its students home. The woman also sued them in court.

I thought at worst they would just be strict. No, I’m going to call her tonight. I’ll send her this news report first—she absolutely must not pay them anything yet.