调查发现近半数中小学生乐于主动与父母谈论游戏

As online games have become a main topic of conversation for primary and secondary school students, parents are advised to take advantage of their child’s interest in gaming to enhance parent-child communication, a report published by China Youth & Children Research Center pointed out.

Through one-to-one questionnaires, the center carried out a nationwide survey on the cognition and attitudes of primary and secondary school students and their parents towards online games from March to October last year.

The report has provided countermeasures and suggestions for helping primary and secondary school students to play online games in a reasonable manner.

The survey found that more than half of primary and secondary school students are fond of online gaming, and most of them recognize the positive impact of online networking. According to the report, 73.5 percent of students think that the Internet broadens their horizons, and 73.8 percent believe they can learn a lot of new knowledge on the Internet.

Peers are the main source from which primary and secondary school students learn about online games, according to the report. More than 80 percent of them learn about online games through their classmates or friends.

Children are delighted to express their player identity and understanding of online games through gaming language, and thus experience a sense of group belonging through it. Some primary and secondary school students even play online games in order to be recognized by their peers, according to Sun Hongyan, an educational expert with the center.

The survey also found that nearly half of these students are willing to talk about online games with their parents on their own initiative, while only 32.4 percent of parents are willing to do so.

If adults neglect children’s entertainment needs and communication psychology, it will lead to a lack of family communication and may diminish the parent-child relationship over time, said Sun.

Instead of simply opposing game playing, it is better for parents to take advantage of the trend and use online games as a tool to enhance the parent-child relationship, according to Sun Yunxiao, the center’s chief expert in family education.

(Zhang Yu)