Parents Pay Premium to Send Kids to Rural Hardship Camps This Summer
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A new trend of hardship summer camps has emerged across China this year, with parents spending 5,000 to over 10,000 yuan (approximately 5,848 Hong Kong dollars) to send children to rural and mountainous areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces for 10 to 30 days during summer vacation . The camps seek to break children of smartphone addiction, irregular schedules, and other bad habits by immersing them in farming life without phones or internet access . Children at these camps perform daily agricultural tasks including digging potatoes, peeling tree bark, collecting firewood, and feeding pigs, while writing letters to parents and sharing nightly reflections . While some parents report positive behavioral changes in their children, education experts caution that such short-term intensive hardship programs may be counterproductive and potentially harmful .
Key Points
- Parents in cities like Chengdu and Shanghai are paying 5,000 to over 10,000 yuan to enroll children in rural hardship camps lasting 10 to 30 days .
- Camps in Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou place children in villagers' homes without smartphones or internet access for the duration .
- Daily activities include physically demanding farm work: digging potatoes, peeling tree bark, collecting firewood, and feeding livestock .
- Many children struggle to adapt, crying during video calls with parents and begging to be taken home, requiring counselor intervention .
- Education experts advise that short-term high-intensity hardship programs risk overreacting and producing opposite effects .
Why It Matters
This trend reflects growing anxiety among Chinese parents about smartphone dependency and behavioral issues in their children, driving them to increasingly drastic measures . The debate over these camps highlights broader tensions in parenting culture between addressing perceived weaknesses and avoiding psychological harm in young people .
This trend reflects growing anxiety among Chinese parents about smartphone dependency and behavioral issues in their children, driving them to increasingly drastic measures . The debate over these camps highlights broader tensions in parenting culture between addressing perceived weaknesses and avoiding psychological harm in young people .