China faces a serious challenge in preventing children from being
psychologically damaged by misuse of information technology, a
State Council official said Wednesday.
Zhang Li, an official with the Women and Children Work Committee
under the State Council, had been asked to comment on the recent
case of a 14-year-old boy in Tianjin Municipality.
The adolescent - whose name has been withheld - phoned a sex line
for three months and he is now on the verge of a mental
breakdown.
He
first called the sex line voluntarily in early February but wanted
to stop calling after one month. However, employees of the company
knew the boy's phone number and called him back. They threatened to
tell his parents and teachers of what he had done unless he
continued calling the line.
Zhang said: "More and more people celebrate the rich and convenient
variety of information that modern technology has brought us but
not many have realized that some psychologically weaker groups,
especially children, have been exposed to the severe danger of
psychological abuse.
"More alarming is that even fewer people have realized that
psychological abuse can be more damaging than physical abuse."
The case of the Tianjin boy serves as a good example.
He
dropped out of school because he could not concentrate on his
studies or take part in school activities.
The boys' parents found out in early May what had been going on
when their phone bill was much higher than normal. They called the
police, who have detained three of the sex-line company's employees
for questioning since late last month.
However, the boy still feels scared when the phone rings. A
psychiatrist suggested that the boy become an in-patient at a
mental hospital but his parents - who are both farmers - simply
cannot afford this.
The boy's mother said: "We have paid several thousand yuan for the
telephone bill, as well as another several thousand for all kinds
of medicine, and we do not know what to do next."
Zhang said she was very worried that so little had been done to
prevent such incidents in the first place.
"Although it is stated clearly in the country's development
programme for children that it is essential to take precautionary
measures to guard children against possible psychological abuse,
not much has been done," said Zhang.
Zhang's committee has decided to conduct a national research
programme later this year to find out how children are influenced
by the increasing amount of information available today.
(China
Daily June 6, 2002)