China Power | Society | East Asia

China’s ‘Internet Addiction’ Schools Are Now Locking Up Adults

Parents are paying institutions to coerce adults whose life choices conflict with family expectations.

In March, a 21-year-old music student in Beijing arrived at an apartment complex to teach a piano lesson. Waiting for her were her father, her aunt, and two employees of a private disciplinary institution. Her relatives told her the strangers were police officers investigating a family matter. Instead, they forced her into a vehicle, confiscated her phone, and drove her hundreds of miles to an institution in Henan province, where she spent the next 11 days.

According to Southern People Weekly, her parents objected to her romantic relationship and believed their once-obedient daughter had become difficult to manage. They paid the institution to isolate her, monitor her daily life, and pressure her into ending the relationship. Public reporting indicates that this institution charged 26,800 yuan (around $4,000) for six months or 36,800 yuan for a year, including room and board.

The incident reflects a broader transformation in an industry once associated almost exclusively with treating so-called “internet addiction.” A July investigation by China Newsweek documented several adults placed in similar institutions by their own families. One 21-year-old man said his parents paid for a facility to “correct” his sleeping habits. A 25-year-old woman living alone reported being taken from Jiangxi to a disciplinary institution in Hubei after relatives and staff entered her home and confiscated her phone. Another investigation by Jiemian News found adults as old as 33 living alongside teenagers in one behavioral correction school.

These institutions emerged during the 2000s, amid national anxiety over youth “internet addiction.” Many gained notoriety for military-style discipline and physical punishment before public criticism pushed the industry to rebrand as family education centers, behavioral intervention programs, or youth development organizations. The name has changed; the business model has simply expanded to adults whose life choices conflict with parental expectations. Romantic relationships, gaming, unemployment, unconventional careers, and irregular sleeping habits can all become reasons for intervention.

China’s Criminal Law makes it a crime to........

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