An Indonesian city has found an alternative to internet addiction: raising chicks. Amid the rising global concern of children using excessive internet and gadgets, the city of Bandung in West Java, about 94 miles from the Indonesian capital Jakarta, has initiated a program, dubbed "chickenization" to distract kids from smartphones.

Under the pilot program, as many as 2,000 four-day-old chicks and 1,500 chili seeds will be distributed over the next few weeks among 10 elementary schools and two junior high schools in the city. The students would be required to feed the chicks every day before and after school. Those who cannot keep the chicks in their backyard would be allowed to keep them indoors or at their schools.

The project was first announced last month. On Thursday, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held and over a dozen chicks in cages were handed over to the students present. Each cage carried the sign: "Please take good care of me."

"There is an aspect of discipline here," Mayor Oded Muhammad Danial said, reported AFP.

According to the Digital 2019 report by Hootsuite and We Are Social, internet users in Indonesia spend eight hours and 36 minutes online per day.

Parents in Bandung have supported this initiative.

"It's good to increase the discipline of children," Elis Puri, a local parent, said. "Caring for trees is better than playing with cellphones."

"It's more beneficial for them to take care of chicks than play with smartphones," another mother agreed.

Poland last year raised more than a billion chickens for meat, according to Statistics Poland
Poland last year raised more than a billion chickens for meat, according to Statistics Poland AFP / Wojtek RADWANSKI
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