My cousin in Korea had called me on the internet couple of months ago. He told me that he has gotten a free account on the internet-calling website and were able to call me free from the internet. Yes, my cousin's only 11 years old. My aunt also tells me that he is on the computer most of the day, and he constantly updates his blog and his website almost everyday.
Then, I came across this article on CNN. It is said that in China, of 18.3 million teen Internet users, more than 2 million were addicts of the Internet; most addicts are male, between 15 and 20 years old; and many addicted teens need "urgent help."
There are lots of addictions in the world. Lots of teens in the world are addicted to video games, computer games, drugs, and alcohol, and some DO need some urgent help. Gao blamed a lack of diversions at schools, forcing addicts into often illegal Internet cafes and exposing them to crime and violence. Also last week, it is showed that China had seen a 68 percent rise in juvenile crime in five years and that figure was going to rise. Pirated DVDs, including violent and adult material, are available on every street corner and computer and online gaming has said to explode in China in recent years.
So how is the government going to handle this matter?
They aim to issue a raft of regulations aimed at curbing excessive game-playing at Internet cafes and heavily fining owners that admit minors. I'm not sure if that's going to fix or even do anything to fix this matter. I once heard from one of my computer science professor that over 60 percent of people who control the cyberspace are teens aged from 10 to 20 who sit in their basement, playing with computers all day.
Even if the government regulate the rules on the internet, kids are always going to find a way to get around the rules. Therefore, I believe that we need to put the parental control on all the computers. How can the parents let their children play with computers all day long? I'm a computer science major, and I am not saying that playing with computers are bad and time-wasting. However, when exposed to computer in early ages, it could be a dangerous habit. Only way to stop this is for us talk to the parents of these children, and have them to regulate their children better.
I do believe this is a big matter. Would you want your kids to wander around the street corners and let them talk to whoever they want? Would you want your kids to be exposed to all the violent images and videos? However, this is not kind of matter that we can fix by talking to the children. I'd say that parents have to talk to children themselves and control their children well.
Mikey Ro
Sources:
China: 2 million teens hooked on Web
POSTED: 12:05 p.m. EST, January 17, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/17/china.internet.addicts.reut/index.html
They aim to issue a raft of regulations aimed at curbing excessive game-playing at Internet cafes and heavily fining owners that admit minors. I'm not sure if that's going to fix or even do anything to fix this matter. I once heard from one of my computer science professor that over 60 percent of people who control the cyberspace are teens aged from 10 to 20 who sit in their basement, playing with computers all day.
Even if the government regulate the rules on the internet, kids are always going to find a way to get around the rules. Therefore, I believe that we need to put the parental control on all the computers. How can the parents let their children play with computers all day long? I'm a computer science major, and I am not saying that playing with computers are bad and time-wasting. However, when exposed to computer in early ages, it could be a dangerous habit. Only way to stop this is for us talk to the parents of these children, and have them to regulate their children better.
I do believe this is a big matter. Would you want your kids to wander around the street corners and let them talk to whoever they want? Would you want your kids to be exposed to all the violent images and videos? However, this is not kind of matter that we can fix by talking to the children. I'd say that parents have to talk to children themselves and control their children well.
Mikey Ro
Sources:
China: 2 million teens hooked on Web
POSTED: 12:05 p.m. EST, January 17, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/01/17/china.internet.addicts.reut/index.html
