No,Child’s,Play

By Wang Hairong

As a doctor in a psychiatric hospital in north Beijing， Liu Huaqing has witnessed how Internet addiction shatters the life of children and their families.

One of his patients at the Beijing HuiLongGuan Hospital was a 12-year-old boy who had not been to school since November 2020. Instead， he stayed at home， glued to his smartphone for more than 15 hours a day， playing games and watching short videos. He often went to bed at 3 or 4 a.m. and stopped following the most basic daily hygiene routine such as brushing his teeth or taking a shower.

His broken-hearted mother said recently he became quick-tempered， even violent. When angered， he would damage things at home.

“If teenagers spend too much time playing mobile games to the point it seriously affects their studies and life， and begin to experience physical discomfort when not allowed to do so， its necessary to consult a psychiatrist，” Liu said. “Internet overuse can be a reflection of strained family relations or other physical and psychological disorders，” he told Beijing Review， adding that it should be analyzed case by case， and more attention should be paid to the underlying triggers.

He suggests families create a sound atmosphere， schools offer psychological health education and counseling， and the society foster a stronger awareness of the risks of Internet addiction for children and teenagers.

Increasing dependence

Excessive Internet use can lead to falling grades， myopia， physical inertia， social disconnection， and even crime， according to medical experts. On January 15， a 14-year-old in Jiangxi Province in east China killed his grandfather because the latter snatched away his smartphone and scolded him for his addiction to it.

A major concern about Internet addiction among children is that it can cause changes in the brain and reduce its ability to focus on things.

In 2020 while studying at home during the novel coronavirus epidemic， students spent more time online. There were concerns that some of them might have spent more time on other online activities such as playing games and watching short videos.

An advice seeker on Haodf.com， a medical consultation platform， said her teenage son used electronic devices more after February 2020， when the epidemic was serious in China and youngsters were attending online classes. He got hooked on mobile games and as a result， often failed to finish his homework.

A paper published by Sun Yan， a professor with the National Institute on Drug Dependence， Peking University， and others in The American Journal on Addictions in July 2020 said during the epidemic， 46.8 percent of the people they surveyed reported increased dependence on the Internet. The prevalence of excessive Internet use was 23 percent more than before the epidemic.

Internet usage among minors is widespread in China. The Internet penetration rate among them was 99.2 percent， according to the Bluebook of Teenagers：
Annual Report on the Internet Use by Minors in China （2020） published in September by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations. About 78 percent of minors started to use the Internet at or below the age of 10， the report said.

Another survey in 2019 shed light on what students aged between 6 and 18 did online. The top three activities were learning， listening to music and playing games， performed by respectively 89.6 percent， 65.9 percent and 61 percent of the respondents. Other popular options included chatting with friends and watching short videos.

The results were jointly released in May 2020 by the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committees department for safeguarding the rights and interests of young people and the China Internet Network Information Center. It was also found that 93.9 percent of underage Internet users accessed the Internet via smartphones， and 63.6 percent had one.

While enjoying the benefits of the Internet， some minors are becoming increasingly dependent on the Internet， and even addicted， the bluebook said.

The incidence of adolescent over-reliance on the Internet is 6 percent in the world， but in China it is close to 10 percent， according to Lu Lin， an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of Peking University Sixth Hospital， at a news conference in September 2018.

Playing mobile games excessively was recognized as an addiction disorder by the World Health Organization （WHO） when it revised the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems in May 2019. The revision will take effect on January 1， 2022.

“For gaming disorder to be diagnosed， the behavior pattern must be of sufficient severity to result in significant impairment in personal， family， social， educational， occupa tional or other important areas of functioning and would normally have been evident for at least 12 months，” reads a WHO statement.

Addressing addiction

Nowadays， “with smartphones， tablet computers and other mobile electronic devices， minors are more likely to develop Internet addiction，” Sun Hongyan， Director of China Youth and Children Research Center， told China Womens News.

Aware of the issue， the Ministry of Education（MOE） announced in January that reducing the smartphone use by students is a key task for 2021.

In August 2018， eight government agencies， including the MOE and the National Health Commission， issued a plan to curb myopia among schoolchildren. It banned students from bringing smartphones， tablet computers and other electronic products into classrooms. Electronic products， if brought to school， would have to be deposited in a designated place. It also limited the use of digital devices to no more than 30 percent of the total teaching time.

In December 2020， the MOE reiterated this policy. It said efforts should be stepped up to guide students to spend less time on the Internet.

Many young people surf the Internet at home， and it is not always easy for parents and other adult family members to monitor what they do online. The mother of an 11-year-old told Beijing Review that her son had frequently played mobile games in his room for at least half a year， often at night， before she found it out by chance.

According to Liu， many teenagers overusing the Internet have family problems. A study by researchers from the Beijing Normal University found that children with loving families are less likely to over-indulge in the Internet.

“Every 10-percent increase in parent-child interaction can reduce the likelihood of Internet addiction by about 7 percent，” Bian Yufang， head of the Institute of Mental Health and Education in the university， said at a forum on teenagers Internet literacy and education innovation in December 2020.

In addition to schools and families， Internet product and service providers should also play their role in protecting minors against Internet addiction. The amended Law on the Protection of Minors， which was adopted in October 2020 and will go into effect in June， stipulates that Internet product and service providers shall not offer minors products and services that induce addiction. Penalties on violations include confiscation of illegal revenues， imposition of fines up to 10 times the illicit gains and discontinuation of business operations.

The law also states that a unified digital ID system will be established to manage underage Internet users access to online games. BR