A military-style “training camp” in southern China sparked online controversy for the ruthless hardships it places on its young campers, with some describing it as “devil training”.
Footage from the camp leaked online, including one video of a camp counsellor forcibly submerging an 11-year-old boy’s head underwater while the child attempted to swim with his hands tied behind his back.
The instructor yelled “faster, faster” as the boy flailed, struggling to gather momentum.
The brutal swimming lesson is part of the curriculum of a military-style training camp named Chuang Shi Mo Xun, or “Genesis Devil Training”.
The training camp director told Chinese Business View that many children were afraid to submerge their bodies in water, and the child in the video was “somewhat timid”.
The training was intended to help him overcome “psychological barriers” and practise swimming.
Other activities at the camp include daily morning runs, laundry lessons, and lectures on showing gratitude to mothers. During these lectures, many children were videotaped crying, which was posted on the camp’s official Douyin account.
“Parents send their children to this camp to foster strong character, willpower, and good life habits,” according to the director.
He added that the safety of the children was guaranteed.
“The pool water is 90 centimetres (3 feet) deep, so it comes up to our waist when we stand, preventing any risk of drowning or choking. Our pool is disinfected and filled with clean, well-sourced water.”
All training sessions were live-streamed for parents to watch.
The director added that some parents specifically sent their children to his training camp because the child was scared of water.
The controversial video was filmed during the summer of 2023. The camp, held annually since 2018, attracts 500-600 children each year who participate in its training programmes. The camp costs between 2,000 and 7,000 yuan (US$280-US$960), depending on the duration of the stay.
However, Chinese psychological therapist Ma Li, in an interview with Chinese Business View, warned that such methods might leave psychological scars on the children.
“If a child has a low tolerance for frustration and stress, this approach might not cultivate resilience but could instead backfire and create adverse effects,” Ma said.
Social media users expressed mixed reactions.
While some believed “this is pure torture of a child”, others supported the training, saying: “How can children grow up properly without hardships?”
Similar military-style training schools for children are common in China.
An advertisement for a similar training camp reads: “Is your child addicted to mobile phones, easily distracted, unwilling to study, and disrespectful to elders? Come here, and we will make your child more independent and grateful.”
Similar camps have been the source of serious accidents or social criticism.
In 2018, a 13-year-old boy suffocated at a military-style training school in Shandong province in eastern China after being restrained by staff members, causing online outrage.
In 2017, a school in Hubei province in central China came under fire for its 27-year tradition of an “adulthood ritual” in which students carried heavy loads for 25 km, did farm work, endured dawn ice-water showers, and slept on mattresses on the cold floor of an unheated warehouse.
