How China finally stopped kids from gaming

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China has been cracking down on video games for decades. From console bans to video game addiction camps and limited gaming hours they have tried everything. Has any of it worked?

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Footage from AP Archive & GettyImages

[charaznable]

I do disagree with china's aggressive gaming regulations but there is an issue here gaming companies are hiring neurologists to make their customers addicted to their products

[allenqueen]

When I was a kid (not in China), my parents would scoff at me playing games and watching TV while completing ignoring the fact that there was nothing else to do, as all the nearby playgrounds had been turned to buildings and parking lots. No D&D culture either.
I guess forcing me to attend a 12hour school and classes for chess, piano and what not could have kept me busy lol. Might as well be a robot

[guill]

Increase of myopia (3:17) is strongly associated with lack of sunlight exposure for your eyes as a minor. This can also happen when you are in a cram school from 09.00 till 21.00 without ever seeing a screen.

[tgamagedon]

As an autistic person, who get's quickly overwhelmed by too much stimulus, using the computer helps me regulate how much I'm exposed to certain things that stress me out. I have found a balance, where I do the amount of things I'm capable in the real world, I cook for myself, take regular walks and sometimes go out and meet people, but I also have a safe haven in my PC activity, where I watch youtube, play games and meet friends in discord in a much more controlled setting. While I do realize that the availability of the PC sometimes makes me less eager to branch out, I do think that I don't have a gaming or internet addiction, but rather that I've found a way to interact with the world in a way that I feel comfortable with, which very much wasn't the case, when I was in school and was forced to go out and socialize most of my day.

[kimakhiangte]

Outright banning or total restriction was never the answer. I'm living in the 'dry state' of India and I'm pretty sure we're the state with the most death by alcohol poisoning. As the proverbs said "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant". This is so true.

[davezhu]

For those who play non-Chinese games, like on steam, they don't face any restrictions

[ZaryanUrRehman]

On the side note Nvidia's approach of increasing gpu prices could also work in this situation too😂

[loebi]

The sad reason behind the constantly failed ban in video games is mainly because the wide spread poverty disqualify children from any other "good" activities (free video game and time of a poor child are very cheap), and there is a general lack of those "good" activities. Also, ironically, lack of willingness to enforce labour protection law in China resulting in people, or more specificly, parents working extra hour with little or no additional pay, leaving no time for their children, is another major cause for the toxic gaming culture in China.

[karliszemitis]

Completely with you on the final assessment - addiction itself is only a result of underlying issues. That was also the case with me as a kid. I skipped classes/school etc to just play games(CS and Runescape at the time), but when I got physically better and my mental health improved, I somehow, without even knowing, stopped playing completely.

[jingxiangtan]

there have been several cases online that kids actually wake their grandparents in the middle of the night to make them go throught the face verification just so they can continue to play the game. Imagine the guy monitoring seeing a 80 yo playing for 12 hours straight. 😂

[Chriss]

I actually agree with the monthly spending limit, but even better would be to clacify loot boxes as gambling and let it be 18+ (and then also include a spending limit)

[trs]

Thank you for addressing the issue that gaming is just a coping mechanism. Gaming, phone addictions, or really most kinds of addictions are just coping mechanisms trying to escape actual disorders. I was very addicted to my smartphone. My mom took away my phone. Didn't work. I just got worse and didn't get back to my academic best at all. Now I've my phone and I'm doing decently academically. And it's because I know my issues and have tried to actually work on them with the help of different institutions.

[Cruxis_Angel]

The sad thing about china is that they missed out on what many would consider the golden age of gaming(90-2010). Now that gaming is taking off they missed out on creative complete experiences and instead are conditioned into playing mobile/ games that are hyper competitive with predatory GAAS models. Korea as well to a lesser extent. They’re the biggest market too so it’s having a negative effect on western markets as well

[maxarendorff]

I do agree with your opinion that gaming addiction is usually a symptom of an underlying problem. In my youth, there was a time when I spent most of my free time playing video games. It was an unhealthy way of dealing with my depression at the time and distracted me from other problems in my life. If you want to limit gaming time for minors, simply taking away the video game is not going to solve the problem.

[dontmindme]

From what I've heard, live streams are insanely popular in China too. I wouldn't be surprised if it has taken over a large part of the time and money that used to go towards games.

Sure, if video games specifically are the enemy, then they've made progress. If you however look at whether the population are spending less time on general entertainment or getting caught in addictions, then the results are likely not all that impressive.

[shinobu-oehl]

To understand this policy, it is first necessary to understand China's cultural background. In the past, China was very poor and people could only engage in manual labor. However, with the reform and opening up, the economy began to develop. Many parents hoped that their children would not have to endure the hardships they had experienced, so they encouraged their children to study hard from a young age, so that they could stand out from the crowd in the future. But excessive learning has caused great pressure on children. Some children have become bored with learning and become addicted to electronic games, resulting in poor academic performance and inability to attend good schools. As adults, they can only go to sweatshops to engage in physical labor, repeating the hardships their parents have endured.

But these parents who make their children tired of learning do not realize that their excessive expectations are causing their children to be tired of learning. They believe that their children's poor academic performance is due to their addiction to games, so they have been protesting to the government, demanding that all game companies be closed. Different from what most people imagine, the Chinese government will listen to the opinions of the people, so they have introduced game restrictions. However, this can only solve surface problems, because the most fundamental problem is that parents are busy with work and do not have time to accompany their children, parents lack communication with their children, their education is very rough, their children's grades are not good, they will insult their children, and often physically punish their children, and say to their children, "These are all for your own good. No wonder children escape reality and become addicted to games.

The government cannot directly blame these parents because China's current rapid economic development cannot do without their overtime work, so the government can only use game bans to cope with the situation.

After all, it's still because there are too many Chinese people. There is a famous saying in ancient China, "All things are inferior, only reading is high." This is a problem that Chinese society cannot avoid.

Also, this ban is actually very lenient. As long as parents actively provide their children with their real name authentication, children can play for a long time because the system authentication shows that the parents themselves are playing the game. I have seen many parents dislike their children's noise, so they voluntarily throw their phones at their children and let them play the game on their own.

Through these practical actions, you will find that game bans are only a temporary measure to address parents' complaints, and have no impact on adults and increasingly enlightened parents.

[ambition]

0:00: 🎮 China has a long history of regulating video games due to concerns about addiction and negative social impacts.
4:17: 🎮 China's attempts to regulate the gaming industry have been largely ineffective.
8:22: 🎮 China's government has implemented strict regulations on the gaming industry, resulting in decreased playing time for minors and increased enforcement measures.
12:24: 🎮 Excessive gaming regulation in China has received mixed opinions, with concerns about limited parental control, privacy issues, and the need to address underlying causes of gaming addiction.
16:18: 🎯 China's approach to tackling mental health and education pressures.
Recap by Tammy AI

[Lying]

Just to be clear, gaming is never banned if you are over 18 yrs old. And the rule is not simply ban children playing games, but limiting the time of playing within a scientific range that gaming is still beneficial for brain exercise but not enough to get addictions. A lot of students or children were exposed to additive games and ruined their future during the 1980s to 2000s. Currently the policy is only enforced on teenagers younger than 18, similar to alcohol policies all over the world. As for the reason for these strict import policy of games, it is mainly due to the prejudice that Western world saw China, which made up a lot of games story lines that degraded the reputation of China on purpose. Another reason is that some games are full of violence or dirty words and regulations play the role of game ranking or classification.

[timego]

A genuinely informative and balanced, in-depth take at the history, development and current situation regarding the Chinese video games industry (in particular, mobile, online and subscription gaming) and legislation for it. Kudos.

[sunkeyavad]

As for addiction it would be interesting to see if the gaming addcited simply moved to other addictions instead. After all addiction is really a metaboilc problem within the person (dopamine dependence) that simply makes that person prone to ANY addiction. While people who don't have that are similarly resistant to all addictions.