A Chinese teacher has found the cure for Internet addiction, and for just 30,000 RMB (roughly $4,380), he'll make sure your youngster beats his or her LOLcat macro cravings. His remedy: studying Chinese classics.
An Deyi runs a home school (or boot camp) that focuses on traditional Chinese learning. An's method to help Internet junkies is to make them recite Chinese classics for a few hours every day, all while keeping a rigid healthy eating and exercising schedule. His method has apparently been so successful that it's warranted a news report series, including stories of the people he's helped.
When she was a high-school sophomore, Yan Huan started cutting school. She spent every weekend at an Internet cafe. When her father found out, he locked her up for a month.
Yan Huan managed to escape. When her father found her and took her back, he suffered a heart attack as she stood watching indifferently. This saddened him.
"She didn't go to college, but went to a vocational school. She was hooked on the Internet. Glued to the computer till three or four o'clock in the morning, and then she'd oversleep," said Yan's mother.
In an attempt to bar his daughter from using the Internet, Yan's father set a password for the family's computer, but the daughter managed to find a way to bypass it.
That was before. This is after.
...About two months into the treatment, Yan's addiction to the Internet has totally vanished and she has taken a healthy liking to reading Chinese classics.
Even her father, who was once so disappointed with her, believes that his rude, rebellious daughter has changed. Yan said she owes everything to An, whom she calls "Guoxue Super-Dad."
So there you have it, it's obviously An Deyi's amazing classics studying house and not, say, leaving a miserable home life, that's cured Yan's addiction to the internet. Next time someone's mom complains to you that her kid does nothing but WoW all day, just hand them a copy of The Analects. That'll cure 'em. [Danwei]