Limit For Kids Online Games; HONG KONG — As the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holiday approaches. With promises of parties and red Envelopes Stuffed with cash. Kids can look forward to something else — another hour of online play each day.
Only one hour.
Limit For Kids Online Games; Chinese authorities have been trying for years to regulate. How much time children can spend playing games online in order to combat “internet addiction”. They claimed to have managed to get the problem under control, but they weren’t taking any chances.
In 2019, authorities limited minors to 90 minutes of play per day on weekdays. Banned them from playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. In 2021, even stricter restrictions were release. Minors can play online games for one hour a day, and only on Fridays, weekends and public holidays. The game’s approval was suspend for eight months.
Lunar New Year’s holiday 21.-27. January, China’s biggest festival, gives them four extra days to play online.
Limit For Kids Online Games; Many parents praised the restrictions, even as their children threw tantrums. Social media and gaming companies have installed or enhanced “youth settings” in their apps to protect minors. They include features that limit usage, manage payments, and display age-appropriate content. Some popular games have implemented real name logging and even facial recognition gateways to prevent hacks.
In November – more than a year after stricter gaming controls were introduce. The Game Industry Group Committee, a government industry group, issue a report saying. That the problem of underage gambling addiction had been “basically solve”, even though the three. The weekly paper hours for Friday, Saturday and Sunday remained in effect.
Overall, the Game Industry Group Reported. That more than 75% of minors in China played online games for less than three hours a week. Most parents were happy with the new restrictions.
According to a September report by gambling market intelligence firm Niko Partners. The number of young players fell to 82.6 million in 2022 from a peak of 122 million in 2020 as a direct result of Chinese regulation.
Limit For Kids Online Games; Beijing resident Zhong Feifei said his 11-year-old daughter has spent less time playing since the restrictions came into effect. “My daughter stopped playing online games during the curfew”
Zhang encouraged her daughter to play with other children or spend time doing other activities.
“Even on holidays, he doesn’t spend too much time playing. Because he’s find something else to do, like playing with our dog or other toys,” she said.
The Game Industry Group reports that the “biggest loophole” in game restrictions is parents helping their children get around controls. The strict restrictions have also created an underground market where minors can buy unsupervised. “hacked” games or rent game accounts for adults.
Zhong Also Likes To Play Online Games. But said she avoids it when she is with her child and goes to play games from home to set a good example.
Parents are the most important factor in curbing gaming addiction, said Tao Ran. Director of the Beijing Youth Psychological Development Center, which specializes in treating the problem.
Tao estimates that app restrictions. Youth settings” have helped curb online gaming addiction among younger kids who may not be able to find a solution. Middle or high school kids tend to be more resourceful and often find ways to overcome limitations. This could mean convincing their parents to allow them to use their account or coming up with a password to turn off ‘kids mode‘.
With so many people stuck at home during the pandemic. Kids have been spending huge amounts of money online, Tao said.
“The pandemic has contribut to the increase in Internet addiction, I have not seen a decrease in the number of minors who are sent to our center to curb addiction every month,” said Tao, whose center treats an average of 20 children with severe Internet addiction. every month.
“For many children who are Addict to Gaming, we find that their parents play frequently,” Tao said. “So these kids look at their parents and think it’s okay to spend a lot of time playing games because that’s what their parents are doing.
As restrictions eased, regulators began approving new games.
In February, NetEase The Country’s Second Largest Game Company
In February, NetEase, the country’s second Largest Game Company, received a license from Nintendo for a role-playing simulation game called Fantasy Life. However, the company’s cooperation with Activision Blizzard is schedule to end by January 23, leaving popular titles such as Overwatch and World of Warcraft out of the Chinese market until Blizzard finds a new domestic partner to release its games.
December gave the green light for the first round of game imports in 18 months, with China’s biggest game company Tencent getting approval for Riot Games’ tactical shooter Valorant and online multiplayer arena game Pokémon Unite.
Not all parents agree with the government’s tougher working methods.
Huang Yan, a mother of a 12-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son in Beijing, said the online game can promote teamwork and help children make friends.
“I am not against minors accessing the internet, games or social media as it is a general trend and it is impossible to stop them,” he said. “It is better to let them confront these Activities and Intervene Properly if they cannot control themselves and direct them to other interests.”
