A man in Shenzen, China going by “Mr Huang” claims to have kept his son awake for 17 hours playing video games. Huang posted a video to TikTok video detailing the punishment.
prohibited his son from sleeping and forced him to play video games
Huang instituted the punishment after finding his child playing video games on a phone at 1am. Eschewing more typical measures like confiscating the phone, Huang instead prohibited his son from sleeping and forced him to play video games.
The TikTok video shows several instances of Huang’s 11-year-old child falling asleep in a chair before Huang nudges him awake to keep playing.
The boy wrote a note in which he said his father told him to play “until I vomit,” adding that he had been up “from 1am to 6pm. Just played for 17 hours.”
The ordeal ended only after the child agreed to strict time limits on screen use.
At the end of the video, Huang explains that it was a last resort that he would not recommend to other parents. Probably wise. The European Court of Human Rights views sleep deprivation as an “inhuman and degrading treatment” and therefore inappropriate for use even on adult criminals.