Third-year computer major Lu Zaixing spent so much time playing computer games that he failed several courses and is now facing the possibility of being expelled from school.

The Beijing student tried to get rid of the temptation and wrote a letter to his school's president at the end of last semester, swearing that he would get offline and devote himself to his studies. But, in the new semester, he began gaming again.

This sort of online addition and lack of motivation in school has become a trap for some college students.

It's a problem at Lu's school: More than 100 fourth-year students there will not get a diploma because they failed to get the required credits, according to China Youth Daily (the school remained unnamed).

In one particular class, 20 of the 30 students failed in several courses and could find it difficult getting a degree.

Most of the students who have laid waste to their studies say that the online addiction was the "big killer".

"Computers were originally intended to benefit study. But gradually I found myself getting crazy about games," Lu said. "Things got worse when more people got into online gaming."

A second-year student, Chen Dong, also failed to pass several courses, but found his problem was a lack of motivation in study.

"I found classes rather uninteresting," he said. "And I believed there should be a lot of fun at college and left my hard-working spirit to look for pleasure," said Chen. Chen said he was involved in a lot of things that had nothing to do with his studies, including working as a part time singer at a nightclub .

To deal with this diplomacrisis, the school has asked two top students to help one trapped addict. This collectivist approach, while seeming a bit naïve, has proven effective, according to one teacher.

"Some addicts have managed to stay away from computer games. Some are removing computers from the dorm to avoid distractions," said the teacher, who asked not to be named.

That school is not the first to face this headache. Yanshan University in Hebei Province last October expelled 120 students who failed to get the necessary credits for similar reasons. Of those expelled,85 per cent were online addicts, the school said.

What is behind all this?

Many people blame a lack of self-control." Any from parental controls, some students find themselves completely free and lack of self-discipline," said the university teacher." Self-control needs to be developed on campus to deal with this phenomenon."

Some think it is not only the students who are to be blamed. They say the higher education establishment needs to get better at arousing student interest in acquiring knowledge.

They also say that increased enrollments could be a reason.

"Teachers find it difficult to detect absences when they are teaching a class of 100 students or even more. Also many students now live off campus, where the administration does not reach," said a school administrator who did not want to be named.

Psychologists say that online addicts have something in common.

"Many students come from single-child families and are not good at interacting with other people. So they easily get hooked. If they are hooded on online games, they will shut themselves off from the world more," said Chen Zhongzhen , a professor at Beijing University.

Chen said both parents and teachers need to teach young people properly and offer more care.
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