Cooperation needed to curb game addiction

Chinese game developers have been asked to install an antiaddiction system in their games since 2007.[Provided to China Daily]

Systems designed to curb Chinese young people's obsession with online gaming require consensus between children and their parents to be effective, experts and tech engineers said.

A government survey of more than 6,200 families in Guangdong province found 23 percent of children aged 3 to 6 spend at least 30 minutes online every day, according to a report released at the Guangdong Youth Cybersecurity Forum in September.

More than 60 percent of 7-year-olds have downloaded games to their smartphones or tablets. At the age of 12, about 88 percent of children use QQ messenger and 70 percent use WeChat, the report said.

"Children use the internet for similar reasons as adults, such as learning, shopping and social interaction," said Su Wenying, a child protection officer with the China Office at the United Nations Children's Fund.

However, she added that there are legitimate concerns that children's development may be affected if they spend too much time online.

In December 2006, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League published a report that said more than 2 million Chinese children and teenagers were addicted to the internet and online gaming. "It is a severe social problem that could threaten the nation's future," it said.

A year later, authorities asked Chinese game developers to add the first version of an anti-addiction system to their games, said Wang Xi, a senior software engineer for an IT firm in Beijing.

In general, he said, anti-addiction systems can be broadly divided into two categories: hard and soft. Hard systems force players offline or stop them from logging in during a certain period, such as the online gaming curfew in South Korea that stops teenage players from logging in between midnight and 6 am, Wang said.

Soft systems do not restrict access, but discourage players from gaming for long periods of time by diminishing loot drops or progression, he added.

"Both of these systems are inherently flawed because children can easily bypass them by registering using adult IDs, or spending extra time or money to get their favorite item or character faster," he said.

Moreover, parents and children often hold conflicting opinions about anti-addiction systems, he said. "This defeats the purpose of the systems because parents and children are locked in a constant battle to control playing time, leading to crafty children stealing their parents' IDs and credit cards, and angry parents sending their children to internet detox camps."

Given how many new games come out each day, "it is hard to hold companies accountable for enforcing the anti-addiction systems", Wang said. "Hence other groups in society, such as parents, teachers and legislators, need to view online obsession rationally and work together to address the real needs of the children."

Children play online games to interact with friends, earn respect from other players, gain satisfaction, and for escapism, Su said. "Some studies imply that children who are struggling at school or have weak emotional support tend to have a higher risk of becoming obsessed with the virtual world."

However, Su emphasized that internet addiction is a much-debated and controversial subject, and experts still do not fully understand its causes and long-term effects compared with addiction to substances like drugs and alcohol.

"Labeling children as internet addicts and sending them to specialized rehab camps can lead to them being stigmatized and harm their long-term mental development," she said.

Addressing internet obsession requires effort from all facets of society, both online and offline, Su said. But more importantly, parents should provide an open and caring space to have honest discussions with their children about their daily lives and internet activities.

"The family is the most important environment for child development, and consensus and mutual trust between parents and children is the key to the issue," she said. "The anti-addiction system only works when both parents and children agree it is for their own good."