[photopress:computeraddicts.jpg,full,alignright]New measures will be introduced to stop teenagers becoming addicted to the Internet and on-line games.
A statement jointly published by the Civilization Office with the Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee, the Central Committee of Communist Youth League of China, the State Press and Publication Administration, the Ministry of Information Industry and the Ministry of Culture (a frightening grouping) said, ‘We should make great efforts to develop “green” on-line games, which are suitable for teenagers, and actively recommend them to teenagers.’
The ten measures listed in the statement include the compilation and publication of decent books and movies and the organization of Internet-related activities for teenagers. The authorities said they would encourage young game players to set up alliances in a bid to promote healthy on-line entertainment.
A 2005 survey showed 13 percent of young Internet users were addicts and 90 percent of juvenile crimes related to Internet addiction. Experts said violence, on-line chatting, pornography and on-line gambling were major attractions.
The statement announced that technical methods would be explored and applied to prevent teenagers from being harmed by unhealthy on-line information and help teenagers out of Internet addiction.
The authorities would also help set up more rehabilitation and treatment agencies for addicted youth. Response centers would be established to deal with complaints and reports of unhealthy on-line behavior.
China, with 111 million Internet users, is the world’s second largest Internet market after the United States.
It all seems very iffy. The survey itself looks fairly suspect. The one way to get teenagers to go for violent games is to ban them. The one way to make them hang on to the Internet is to make it illicit. The one way to get teenagers to follow a course of action is to tell them it will annoy adults. These measures simply will not work. The authorities are working from the wrong end.
Source: Xinhua