The father advised other parents against the cruel punishment. (Unsplash/Rep image)
As part of a screen time lesson, a father in China forced his 11-year-old son to play video games straight for 17 hours without sleep after catching him using his phone in bed.
According to the Express, the boy from Shenzhen, China, was made to play video games "until he vomits" after his father found him gaming at 1am. The boy pleaded for forgiveness, however, the father - named Mr Huang - launched the cruel punishment in a bid to teach his son the dangers of excessive time using technology.
The father also filmed the lesson and shared it on the Chinese social media platform Douyin - China's version of TikTok. The clip showed Mr Huang catching his son playing video games on his phone at 1:30am, well after his child's bedtime. It also showed the exhausted 11-year-old in his pyjamas being shaken awake to keep playing after nodding off in his chair.
As per Metro, the boy wrote a heartfelt note on his computer apologising for staying up late playing video games and promising never to do it again. In his letter, the boy said, "So my dad found out. Then my father punished me. Let me play enough. Play until vomit."
"Well, I was woken up several times. It's going to be all day anyway. From 1am to 6pm. Just played for 17 hours," he added.
Further, in his note, the boy wrote, "I promise I must go to bed before 11 o'clock. I promise not to play the phone [game] before going to bed [and] not to play with toys."
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According to the outlet, the father only called off the punishment when his son broke down in tears and agreed to a new pact limiting his playing time. He insisted that his method was effective, however, he also added that he would never advise other parents to punish their children with the same experiment.
Meanwhile, on social media, the incident accumulated mixed reactions. While some approved of the punishment, others thought it was harsh. "As a game publisher, I approve his punishment," wrote one user.
"Aha,,,Harsh lesson,,,,, Should children be allowed to take a phone to bed. As a parent I no its wrong because they be up all night using it.. So really the father should have been made to play it for 17hrs," commented another.