[Taler] [address@hidden: 'Oh, that's an idea...': U.S. parents respond to China screen time ban]

[Richard Stallman]

China's new rules for game servers, which limit use by minors to a
certain amount of time on certain days of te week, are based on
identifying all users to find out which ones are minors.

If this could be done by a special adults-only Taler coin, it could be
implemented without identifying users.

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Subject: 'Oh, that's an idea...': U.S. parents respond to China screen time ban
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Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2021 21:06:52 -0000
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From: World | Reuters <rms-rss@gnu.org>

(Reuters) - Raleigh Smith Duttweiler was folding laundry in her Ohio home, her 
three children playing the video game Minecraft upstairs, when she heard an NPR 
story about new rules in China that forbid teenagers and children under age 18 
from playing video games for more than three hours a week.

“Oh, that’s an idea,” ” Duttweiler, who works in public relations at a 
nonprofit, recalls thinking. “My American gut instinct: This is sort of an 
infringement on rights and you don’t get to tell us what to do inside of our 
own homes.

“On the other hand, it’s not particularly good for kids to play as much as even 
my own children play. And I do think it would be a lot easier to turn it off if 
it wasn’t just arguing with Mommy, but actually saying ‘Well, the police said 
so.’”

For Duttweiler and many families outside of China, Monday’s news of the 
country’s strict social intervention - which regulators said was needed to stop 
a growing addiction to what it once described as “spiritual opium” - 
underscores a challenge to reign in video game use in their own homes, 
particularly during the pandemic.

China’s regulator said the new rules were a response to growing concern that 
games affected the physical and mental health of children, a fear echoed by 
parents and experts in the United States.

Paul Morgan, a father of two teenagers and Penn State professor who studies 
electronic device use, sees flaws in the ban while acknowledging the challenge 
of controlling children’s screen time. “These electronic devices are 
ubiquitous,” Morgan said. “It’s really hard to get kids away from them.”

Yet Morgan says screen time negative associations are particularly evident for 
heavy users, possibly due to displacing activities like exercise or sleep. The 
ban doesn’t address social media use, which is thought to be especially harmful 
for girls. And some populations, such as students with disabilities, may 
benefit from the social interactions provided by video games.

Shira Weiss, a New Jersey-based publicist for technology clients including a 
video game company, sees value in the games that help keep her twin 12-year-old 
sons connected to their peers, but wants to better limit how often they play 
the more violent games.

“I think the Chinese rules are good,” Weiss said. “You’re still saying ‘Play 
video games,’ but you’re just setting limits.” She added, partially joking: 
“Can they come here and impose that restriction on my house?”

Michael Gural-Maiello, who works in business development at an engineering firm 
and has an 11-year-old son, believes parents should be the ones regulating 
their children’s video game use.

“I don’t think governments really have a place in telling parents how their 
children should be spending their time,” Gural-Maiello said. “China has a 
rotten record in technology in general. I’d be far more worried about my son 
using apps that originate in China that collect data than I am about him 
playing Mario Kart.”

![][1] _FILE PHOTO: People play online games at an internet cafe in Fuyang, 
Anhui province, China August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo_

   [1]: 
https://static.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20210831&t=2&i=1573488639&r=LYNXMPEH7U12Z

URL: 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-regulation-gaming-parents/oh-thats-an-idea-u-s-parents-respond-to-china-screen-time-ban-idUSKBN2FW21Y
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-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)