We often lament the distractions of the Internet for American students. In China, they do something about it. As the country gears up for its annual college entrance exam on June 7 and 8, the provincial government in central China has shut down all of the area’s Internet cafes to “encourage” students to study. As one local government official explains, “Besides Internet cafes, there's not much else in town the kids can waste time with." We’re not sure which is worse: That there’s nothing else to do in central China ‘cept surf the web, or that an authoritarian government is censoring its residents’ access to information. American educators: Keep this in mind the next time you complain about having no control over what your students do with their free time.
“Town shuts Internet cafes to help teens focus for college entrance exams in China,” Associated Press, June 1, 2010