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Children have bedtimes for a reason, and if they are caught staying up past theirs, there will likely be a price to pay. That was certainly the case for one 11-year-old boy who decided to secretly play video games well after he was supposed to be asleep. When his dad caught him playing on his phone at 1:30 a.m., he came up with a punishment that at first seemed fun to his son, but it wound up being pretty severe.
Instead of just confiscating the phone, the dad went in the opposite direction and made the boy play games... for 17 hours straight. The father, who lives in Shenzhen, China, shared his punishment on social media, explaining how he actually wanted his kid to play the game for 24 hours straight. His goal was to illustrate how bad it can be for the boy's health to prioritize gaming over sleeping.
The father called his son's school to report him absent so the boy could play the video games. At 7:30 a.m., the kid was still enjoying himself, but a few hours later, he fell asleep. His dad immediately woke him and had him continue to play. The boy lasted until 6:30 p.m. before pleading with his father to let him stop. His dad relented, 17 hours after the gaming began, however, he also had his son write an apology letter in which the boy vowed never to play games after his bedtime again.
The dad does understand how extreme the punishment was and, while it was a success, he doesn't recommend it for other parents.