An eight-year-old school girl in southwest China is frustrated about her winter vacation assignment — "what would you do if there is no access to the Internet for a month?"

Zhao Yimei is a grade two pupil in Huang Jiaoya primary school in Chongqing, southwest China. Their teacher Miss Wu asked students to draw poker cards to decide their assignments for the winter vacation on Jan 22.　　

Zhao Yimei drew the two of hearts -- what if there were no digital devices. The student is required to not play video games, not use cell phones and not use computers for a month. Instead of using the Internet, the student is recommended to read, do sports and hang out with schoolmates.

Yimei said, "I have not used computers or cell phones for three days. But I am not sure whether I can make it a month."

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Parent: the Internet is necessary for school children

"For children who have grown up with technology, this kind of winter vacation homework is too unreasonable for them," wrote the father on his social media on seeing his daughter upset.

Guo Yi, mother of Zhao Yimei is a college teacher at Chongqing University of Post and Telecommunications. She encouraged her daughter to bravely accept the challenge.

She said that her daughter started to use computer at the age of six. Usually, her daughter played computer games in the company of parents for less than twenty minutes each time.

In fact, Guo has taught Yimei to use PowerPoint for her presentation and search for information through the Internet.

"Being too obsessed with the Internet is not good for pupils, but Internet access is still necessary," said the mother, “after all, children are getting much more information and knowledge via the internet which helps them to learn subjects very easily."

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Teacher: it helps children develop a hobby

Developing a hobby can help keep the mind off surfing the Internet. Having a hobby not only saves people from the dangers of Internet addiction, but also has a positive influence on their life as a whole.

This assignment was designed by teacher Zeng Lingchuan, who has been a teacher for thirteen years. She said that 95% students in her class have surfed the Internet on cell phones and played video games. And several students with bad grades often spend a lot of time on the Internet. Therefore, she decided to let children have an Internet-free winter vacation.

Expert: creative but not feasible

Teachers and parents alike are concerned about children's addiction to the Internet, said the psychology professor Zhou Xiaoyan of Chongqing Normal University. The assignment is very creative but a little unreasonable for children who have grown up in the digital era. It might increase their frustration if pupils do their very best to not use devices but then ultimately fail in their attempts.