The Children’s Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) yesterday voiced concerns at the number of children who may be addicted to Internet computer games at an early age, citing the results of a poll.
“Our poll shows that, on average, elementary school children spend more than four hours a day in front of their computers playing games as well as playing online games, at the weekend or on holidays,” foundation executive director Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference to announce the results.
“It’s very scary that 15 percent of the respondents said they’ve played online games for more than eight hours a day during holidays,” she said.
With help from 17 elementary schools from across the country, the foundation collected 971 valid samples from students in June.
Wang said that the survey showed online game addiction can harm children’s health, cost them money and sometimes put them in dangerous situations with Internet predators waiting to make “friends” with online gamers.
“Nearly 50 percent of respondents said that they skipped meals or stayed up all night to play online games — this is quite harmful to health especially as the children are still growing,” Wang said.
Hsu Cheng-dien (??, a child psychiatrist at Tai An Hospital, told the news conference that he has been handling an increasing number of cases in which children could not sleep at night because they were too excited or too obsessed by games they played.
He said many addicted children clashed with their parents if they were stopped from playing.
“Compared to three or four years ago, the number of first and second-grade patients who see me with game-addiction related problems has grown by about 10 percent,” Hsu said.
Meanwhile, Wang said that many online game operators entice players by allowing them to play for free, “but then, when you get addicted, you want to buy special items, secret weapons, or better clothes for your character, and then start spending a lot of money.”
In one particular game, a suit for a character costs between NT$60 and NT$360, while in another game another costume costs NT$2,800.
The most expensive item that the foundation has found in an online game, costs NT$9,999.
“It’s scary to hear that two online gamers pointed a pistol at another player, and demanded he hand over equipment owned by his character,” Wang said.
She also cited numerous reports in which gamers were robbed or sexually assaulted by other players they met online.
The foundation asked the government, parents and teachers to pay more attention to games addiction in youngsters.
Wang said that the government should take a more active role in monitoring and enforcing ratings of online games, as well as ban TV commercials for online games at certain times of the day.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS