Education and addiction in China

Gaming addiction has become common concern throughout Asia over the last few years. Parents, teachers, and even governments are working on a solution, but what if they are all looking in the wrong direction? Is it possible gaming addiction is a symptom rather than the problem itself?

For the last four years, I have been working as a teacher in China. I have worked with students of all ages and varied backgrounds, and what I have seen has led me to two conclusions. Firstly, that gaming addiction is both real and dangerous. Secondly, that China’s broken education system is the heart of this problem in the country.

(See: Report finds China’s anti-gaming-addiction systems are not working)

China’s education assault

Many people say that our school days are the best days of our lives and these people are all idiots. School is hell for almost everyone. For those at the top, it’s a Machiavellian power struggle; for those at the bottom, it’s constant abuse. Everyone knows that “school sucks”, and no one knows it more than students in China.

Let me say this unequivocally: China’s education system is brutal. Students work for up to twelve hours a day, and are given multiple hours of homework a night. Their weekends and holidays are filled with extra classes in private schools and from tutors. Check out these students talking about their work loads:

It’s exhausting and it’s damaging. Students have little time for socializing and almost no time for private hobbies. When I asked my middle and high school students what their favorite hobby was, the number one answer was “sleep.” Number two was computer games.

To show you how insane this gets, one school in Hubei had students hooked up to IVs because they were afraid of students getting sick from studying too much.

The second part of Chinese education involves competition and pressure. Test scores are insanely important and students often base their social status and self-confidence on their results. One messed up exam can be disastrous. I have personally seen bursts of hysteria from otherwise rational students who fail to get top marks.

I once even had a university student crying in my office because she got only 93 per cent in the class. The internet is full of other examples from self-harm to outright suicide over exam scores.

(See: Chinese mother, son presumed drowned after argument over League of Legends)

Home is no escape from this pressure. Students are often harassed about exam scores by relatives and pushed to forsake all other activities except studying. When I asked one friend about this treatment, he answered that turning a piece of coal into a diamond requires pressure. Lots of pressure.