Chinese girl, 16, kills mother after she was sent to internet addiction ‘boot camp’: report

A 16-year-old girl from northern China killed her mother because she was angered by the harsh treatment she received when she was sent to an internet addiction treatment centre, according to a news website report.

The girl said she had been beaten and mistreated at the “boot camp” in Shandong province where she spent four months earlier this year, Thepaper.cn reported.

Rebooting addicts: A look at China’s internet boot camps

She killed her mother last Friday, according to the article, which gave no details of how the woman died or where the family lived.

The daughter gave herself up to the police the next day, the report said.

The boot camp in Jinan claims to have “cured” more than 7,000 teenagers who are addicted to surfing the internet since the centre was founded in 1996, the report said.

Teenager’s death sheds light on brutal discipline at military-style camps for internet addicts

The tough regimen of similar internet addiction camps has created controversy in the past in China.

Some have questioned on social media if the camps are legal because of the harsh treatment and military-style discipline enforced on teenagers.