While one side of using smartphones is a boon as we live in a time where most of our work depends on the tools that our smartphones consist of, the other side is the reason for taking steps to stay a little away from our devices. The problem is a little more acute when it comes to children, tweens, and teens. Smartphone addiction is responsible for problems like sleep disturbances, behavioural issues, poor academic performance, and social isolation. To tackle this issue, China is planning to impose extreme rules.
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The country is planning to impose screen time restrictions on individuals who are under the age of 18. The planned restriction is to limit the time to two hours for this category of people. Further, China plans to impose different screen time restrictions for different age groups. As per reports, children below the age of 8 will be permitted only 40 minutes a day, and children between 8 and 16 will be restricted to an hour a day. Meanwhile, teens between 16 and 17 will be permitted two hours a day. Further, it is also noted that the smartphone companies should not provide any sort of service between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. for children under the age of 18.
Without a doubt, smartphones have been the cause of a lot of worry when it comes to children. These young individuals have been found to have an array of problems that range from delays in their social development to attention and hearing issues, along with issues with their nervous system. It is quite daunting to think that these small, palm-sized gadgets have the ability to wreck an individual. China is taking serious cognizance of the same and is moving forward to tackle this situation in a more serious manner.
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Additionally, the proposed regulations also note that cellphones must include a “minor mode”. For people who are younger than 18, the minor mode must be simple to access from the home screen or system settings. According to reports, the minor mode will enable parents to observe and control what their children are capable of doing with or using cellphones for. The requirement to provide age-appropriate content would extend to internet service providers as well.
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