Many parents have showed great concern that their children are getting hooked on electronic devices during the summer vacation, Legal Daily reported.

“My daughter has spent too much time on screens during the vacation,” a Beijing resident surnamed Wu said to the reporter. He mentioned that his daughter in fourth grade shows no interest in anything other than playing with the mobile phone. Many parents also stated that their children are in high spirits when they play with electronic devices, but when it comes to studying, that’s a different story. Sun Meng, a teacher interviewed, said that the addiction to electronic devices consumes students’ time and energy, which can directly lead to a decline in their concentration and academic performance.

According to the 2020 National Study on Internet Use by Minors, parents’ deficiency in guiding and supervision contribute to children’s addiction to electronic devices. In a bid to avoid children’s interrupting their work, some parents use electronic devices to distract their children’s attention. As for supervising their children’s use of electronic devices, some parents stated that “beating” is an effective means of control.

In addition to problems with parental guidance and supervision, parents’ lack of care for and communication with their children are also important reasons for children’ addiction to electronic devices.

According to Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, guiding the underage to use electronic devices properly should be accompanied by cultivating children’s autonomy. “Parents should first select the information they want their children to receive,” said Wang Sixin, a professor at the Communication University of China. He also stated that platform service providers should take measures to prevent the underaged from being exposed to inappropriate information. For example, Kuaishou, a video-sharing platform, has introduced nearly 1,000 episodes of high-quality animation. It also opened a new livestreaming column to promote safety awareness of the underaged during the vacation.

(Runa Tongxin)