Some 80 kilometers away from the hustle and bustle of the capital, a solemn monastery is making use of its serenity to cure young people addicted to their wholly modern addictions to video games and the Internet.
Televisions, laptops and cell phones are strictly prohibited at the Truc Lam Tay Thien Zen Monastery, where monks have opened up a free rehabilitation center for young addicts, Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper reported.
As summer holidays are in full swing, the young mostly urban addicts have been packed off to the sanctuary, nestled in the stunning Tam Dao Mountain Range in northern Vinh Phuc Province.
Gone are the creature comforts of the modern world and the trendy clothes they wear back in the city. What they are left with is the grey monk’s robe, and with it the simple life that a novice monk leads.
Victims of the hubris of a burgeoning economy, many of today’s' urban youth have been criticized for being ‘Little Emperors, devoid of basic living and social skills, connections to family and a sense of self-reliance.
The parents have also been assigned much of the blame. Absorbed in building their careers, many urban parents are spending less time with their kids than ever.
In a situation also being played out throughout the rest of Asia, a lack of parental supervision is resulting in a growing number of teenagers turning to a virtual entertainment world, shutting themselves away from reality and the day-to-day norms of life.
An eighth-grader who is attending the program, said she used to play online games all night but was never prohibited from doing so by her parents.
“My mom also goes online all the time when she gets home. I even snuck out to the internet café for a change of scenery,” she said.
“Playing the whole time in my room without anyone saying no; it can be boring sometimes.”
A couple whose son was sent to the monastery admitted they gave him the games to play and allowed his grandfather to take him to internet cafés to play online.
“My dad has 200 games in his laptop,” said Duong Duc Anh, a fourth grader, who was sent to Tay Thien to cure his addiction.
What their reasons were for starting or how much supervision they received at home are inconsequential now for the dozens of kids calling the sanctuary home.
What does unify them is that for the present at least, they all share the same life, addiction responsibilities.
At 3:30a.m. they wake up and meditate with the monks after the first three bells of the day. The kids spend the remainder of their time cleaning, doing laundry, gardening and cooking, before learning about nature and Buddhism.
A young boy said during meditation, he often prays to Buddha to cure him of his addiction.
“I used to be so addicted to playing games that I didn’t bother to eat and it made my mom cry,” he said. “I didn’t even care about studying so my parents sent me here.”
The students say they have been given time to take a step back, make new friends in the sanctuary and begin to rebuild their lives.
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