Chinese parent sceptical of efficacy of limiting children's phone time
Arissa Yan is only six years old, but she is already a smartphone native. She effortlessly swipes through comedy videos on the social media platform Douyin while giggling on the sofa. Arissa started using a cell phone when she was four years old.
Val Yan, her mother, is worried about internet addiction. However, she sees phone usage as an important and unavoidable part of modern society. Val does not want Arissa to be behind her peers in technological fluency but is not sure how to balance Arissa's screen time.
"Yes, of course, I'm worried. Kids using phones to study is part of it, but when they watch videos it's easy to get addicted," Yan said.
Mobile phone addiction is a major concern in China. The government drafted regulations in August limiting minors to a maximum of two hours a day on their smartphones. Children under eight would be limited to a maximum of 40 minutes a day. When daily usage time is exceeded, the mobile will "automatically close other applications," local media reported.
The so-called "minor's mode" programme would also bar users under 18 from accessing the internet on mobile devices from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Parents would have the power to bypass the mode.
China's cyberspace regulator has not said if it will put the rules into effect, and if so, when.
Yan is sceptical about the efficacy of the restrictions, as many electronic devices already have a "child mode".
"Since we already have this (child's mode) function, is there any research on how effective it is? If companies are adding this on top of the basic function, then I don't know if the efficiency can be improved," Yan said.
Child psychologist Sharon Yen says the focus should be on parents connecting emotionally with their children instead of limiting mobile usage. However, under the current circumstances, Yen recognizes that restrictions on screen time are helpful and also likely to appear in other countries.
"A lot of parents, they're busy at work, so they have no time to connect with their children... And I believe in the future more and more governments will participate in these (types of) policies," Yen said.
Val hopes that instead of restrictive policies, the government can subsidise extracurricular activities for families. She says a free day at the zoo or offering discounts for sports activities can offset some of the financial burden on parents and give children more opportunities to socialize.
At the moment, Val limits Arissa's screen time to no more than 70 minutes a day: 40 minutes in the day and 30 minutes before bed. Though Chinese technology shares tumbled immediately after the proposal was published, little Arissa is fully supportive of having limited screen time and the proposed policy.
"As long as you take me outside (to play) it's all good," Arissa said.
Reuters
