With the week-long Chinese New Year holiday approaching in China, children are the most excited as the holiday season also eases stringent restrictions on online gaming. The Chinese government is easing restrictions, allowing online games to be extended by an hour each day. For years, authorities have tightly controlled the amount of time children spend playing games online. While many parents appreciated the move, it was also criticized for adopting extreme measures to combat “internet addiction.” The government has opted to ease rules during the holiday season as it claims to have successfully curbed the problem.
Switch to use mode settings
This year, there was news that there will be more days and hours of online games for kids to coincide with China’s biggest festival, the Lunar New Year holiday. In 2019, authorities restricted minors’ playtime to 90 minutes a day on weekdays and banned them from playing online between 10pm and 8am. By 2021, these restrictions have been tightened, allowing minors to play online games for only one hour a day on Fridays, weekends and public holidays.
Social media and gaming companies have set or enhanced “use mode” settings in their apps, similar to child lock features, to protect minors. These settings included the ability to limit usage, manage payments, and view age-appropriate content. To prevent children from circumventing these features, some popular games have enabled systems of real-name registration and facial recognition gateways. Additionally, the game’s approval was suspended for over eight months.
This was followed by a report from gaming market research firm Niko Partners, which found that the number of young gamers has fallen from a peak of 122 million in 2020 to 82.6 million in 2022. A year after the restrictions, the government-backed industry body – the Game Industry Group Commission – also issued a report declaring that the problem of underage gaming addiction had been “fundamentally solved”. More than 75% of minors in the country spend less than three hours a week playing online games, and most parents also say they are happy with the new limits.
Gaming industry and psychology experts in Beijing said parents played a key role in implementing them at home, regardless of restrictions. is the center of such initiatives. Therefore, much of the praise for government decisions goes to parents who continued to comply with government decisions despite their children throwing tantrums.
Beijing resident Zhong Feifei, mother of an 11-year-old, said she has been spending relatively little time gaming since the restrictions came into force. She encourages her daughter to make good use of her time by playing with other children and engaging in interesting activities, and she encourages her online socializing during prohibited hours. I have completely given up on playing games. She also enjoyed her games online, her Ms. Zhong sets a good example by avoiding her games online when spending time with her children and leaving home to play with her daughter. .
For that matter, the Game Industry Group report also commented that the “biggest loophole” in gaming restrictions is parents helping their children circumvent controls. If parents set an example, children will follow. So even if the online gaming underground market rises in the light of strict regulations, minors will not be trapped in such a market.
Solving pandemic-driven device addiction
Online gaming restrictions came amidst the pandemic, with news of rising gaming addiction and high spending among children online.Reported by New Indian Express I quoted Tao, an expert at a center that treats an average of 20 children with severe internet addiction each month. He said the center had fewer minors dealing with addiction after restrictions during the pandemic. I mention it because I’ve learned it from watching parents playing online games.
This is also why not all parents agreed with the government’s heavy-handed approach. Huang Yan, the mother of a 12-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old son, said online about her gaming pro. She said it instilled a sense of teamwork in her children and helped them make friends. and that it is impossible to stop children from using them.In her opinion, like many other parents in the gaming community, such interventions Only necessary if the child cannot control their gaming habits.
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