New law in Taiwan makes parents limit their kid's computer time

[Mitrailleuse]

"freedom"

[DildorTheDecent]

Trust me, before I took a more in-depth look at the causes of addiction I never really understood how serious it can be either. 

 

The actual processes of addiction play on the already existing natural responses, just cranked up to 11. The body can't defend against its own metabolic processes and it certainly can't stop this almost "hard wired" pleasure response that causes your brain to make those associations in the first place. 

Addiction is a downright dangerous thing because it physically alters the brain itself to the point where some people simply can't function anymore without that "fix". Its truly scary. 

We often scream "think of the children" in response to stupid decisions but this isn't one of them and ironically enough, this truly involves thinking for the sake of children. Kids don't know any better, they function far more simply than adults and their brains are for more malleable. I consider it a social responsibility that we stomp out these kinds of behaviours while you still can. Its easier to attack addiction in its infancy before it has made a lasting change than it is to try years down the line when the very chemical makeup of your brain has been altered due to the addictive behaviours. 

I used to know a guy who was addicted to all sorts of things. Ever since he moved i can't help but think how he is fighting the addictions. 

 

but yeah, gaming can be addictive since it makes the brain release its happy chemical. Only drug that I've ever taken that has released the happy chemical is cannabis. It was good but that was a one time thing only. 

[Machu]

Video games can be addictive just like a drug. I watched a documentary about addictions outside of drugs. One of the segments was about a 12 year old (I think) in South Korea and his addiction to the internet, and he was sent to a camp to try to cure him of his addiction.

[qwertywarrior]

how the hell will this be enforced ?

[Sonefiler]

Thank god I don't live in Taiwan lol

[LAwLz]

This isn't a bad thing. 

Too much time on anything can lead to addictive behaviours. Computers can be to me what cocaine is to an addict. Same principles. Its better to STOP that association from being drilled into kids heads while they are young. 

 

Then again, some people on this site think its healthy to spend a dozen of hours a day on a computer doing god knows what, because its a hobby. No, thats not a hobby. Thats a dangerous obsession. A hobby is 1-2 hours a day. Or 1-2 times a week like my drone flying. I don't spend 12 hours a day flying, I don't even spend 12 hours a day taking photos (even when it was my job!) 

But I abstain. People will still try and twist this as "OMG STAY OUT OF ME LIFE GUBERMENT"

Doctors left right and centre will tell you to limit how much time you spend in front of the TV or computer if it isn't required. Sure, some people actually need to and thats fine. I have protein structures to look at, and I prefer the computer versions over the boring and poorly made diagrams on textbooks by a wide margin. Stock traders kinda have to. Many jobs require you to. 

No job or hobby requires you to blow 12 hours a day on reddit, LTT or even on gaming. Thats what they want to cut out, the really harmful associations and addictive behaviours. Too much of anything can be substantially detrimental to ones health, even computer time. 

I think it depends 100% on what you are doing on your computer. For example, I use my computer for all my studies, all the time. All the essays I write are written on my computer, all my studying material is on my computer, hell even some of my lectures are on the computer. The recommended time for some of my courses I have taken have been 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

So if I studied as much as they recommended, I would spend about 8 hours a day at my computer, only studying. After that I might want to read some news and post on LTT etc, so that's another hour or two, then I might watch a TV show or whatever for another hour, then I might edit some photos and play games for maybe 2 hours. On top of that I might be chatting with my friends, planning meetups, what I am going to do during the weekend and things like that.

 

All of a sudden I have spent 12+ hours at my computer. The thing most people don't take into consideration though is that I have done a wide variety of things. In the "old days" the same routine would have looked like this:

Be at school reading books and listening to the teacher.

Come home and read the news paper, chat with the neighbor etc.

Watch TV in the living room.

Take some photos or watch photos in an album or whatever.

Play some games.

Chat with my friends on the phone or something along those lines.

 

I think most people would call the "old days" routing perfectly normal and healthy, but for some reason it is unhealthy to do the same things at a computer. I think the problem is that when parents see their kids at the computer they think of it as "sitting at the computer", which is only 1 thing. When they see their child going from reading the newspaper to watching a show in the living room they think of it as two things.

Doing the same thing for 12 hours a day is bad, but "sitting at the computer" is composed of several things, and when you look at them as individual things it's not so bad. So I think a law like this is a very bad thing, because parents or law makers won't be able to see that it is very distinct things being done in my example.

 

 

I studied IT at high school and since all students in my class spent a lot of time on their computers we were visited by a psychiatrist who works with addictions (specifically gaming addictions). He said essentially the same things as I have said above during the lecture. He also said that the children of most parents who contacted him did not have any addiction problems. All of our parents were also invited to a later lecture. My mom, who was concerned that I was a gaming addict, went to the lecture and after that she took a bigger interest in what I was doing at my computer. When she started going that she realized that I spent only about 1/3 as much time playing games as she thought. The rest of the time I did things she used to do when she was in high school as well, except I did those same things in front of my computer instead of on the phone in my room.

 

 

 

TL;DR: I think all this "computer addiction" is mostly parents not knowing what is actually going on, and not taking an interest in actually looking into what their children are doing.

Of course there are people with serious issues, but I think that's a very small percentage of the group who gets called addicts.

 

 

Edit: and before you use the "pick up a book" argument, or "watch movies at the TV in the living room then" argument you did in a later post again me, why should I?

Why should I use a vastly inferior (electronic dictionaries was a godsend for Japanese) product just so that people around me will know for sure what I am doing? What should matter is what I am doing, not if I am doing it in front on a computer or a book.

[NumLock21]

Went over there once during vacation and during a quiet afternoon, it was suddenly shattered by a loud voice over the emergency broadcasting system, which are basically loud speaks attacted a top electric or telephone poles. At first I thought it was some emergency or drill, but instead it was a announcement for parent teacher meeting. Yeah so if your a kid and going to school in Taiwan, you better have good grades! Other than that, night markets are fun and that computer district is awesome!

[AlwaysFSX]

I think it depends 100% on what you are doing on your computer. For example, I use my computer for all my studies, all the time. All the essays I write are written on my computer, all my studying material is on my computer, hell even some of my lectures are on the computer. The recommended time for some of my courses I have taken have been 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

So if I studied as much as they recommended, I would spend about 8 hours a day at my computer, only studying. After that I might want to read some news and post on LTT etc, so that's another hour or two, then I might watch a TV show or whatever for another hour, then I might edit some photos and play games for maybe 2 hours. On top of that I might be chatting with my friends, planning meetups, what I am going to do during the weekend and things like that.

 

All of a sudden I have spent 12+ hours at my computer. The thing most people don't take into consideration though is that I have done a wide variety of things. In the "old days" the same routine would have looked like this:

Be at school reading books and listening to the teacher.

Come home and read the news paper, chat with the neighbor etc.

Watch TV in the living room.

Take some photos or watch photos in an album or whatever.

Play some games.

Chat with my friends on the phone or something along those lines.

 

I think most people would call the "old days" routing perfectly normal and healthy, but for some reason it is unhealthy to do the same things at a computer. I think the problem is that when parents see their kids at the computer they think of it as "sitting at the computer", which is only 1 thing. When they see their child going from reading the newspaper to watching a show in the living room they think of it as two things.

Doing the same thing for 12 hours a day is bad, but "sitting at the computer" is composed of several things, and when you look at them as individual things it's not so bad. So I think a law like this is a very bad thing, because parents or law makers won't be able to see that it is very distinct things being done in my example.

 

 

I studied IT at high school and since all students in my class spent a lot of time on their computers we were visited by a psychiatrist who works with addictions (specifically gaming addictions). He said essentially the same things as I have said above during the lecture. He also said that the children of most parents who contacted him did not have any addiction problems. All of our parents were also invited to a later lecture. My mom, who was concerned that I was a gaming addict, went to the lecture and after that she took a bigger interest in what I was doing at my computer. When she started going that she realized that I spent only about 1/3 as much time playing games as she thought. The rest of the time I did things she used to do when she was in high school as well, except I did those same things in front of my computer instead of on the phone in my room.

 

 

 

TL;DR: I think all this "computer addiction" is mostly parents not knowing what is actually going on, and not taking an interest in actually looking into what their children are doing.

Of course there are people with serious issues, but I think that's a very small percentage of the group who gets called addicts.

Don't forget the health negatives with being at a computer for hours at a time. You can really screw with your spine and eyes if you don't take breaks.

[Tonylu1595]

Well I'm in the United States and my parents still limit my internet to 600mb a day and limit the hours also. Doesn't matter if you're in Taiwan or not lol.

[Trik'Stari]

Wow...just.

 

 

Wow. God forbid people have unlimited access to a medium that can make them more intelligent and educated, can't have that shit going on, bad for government.

 

Don't forget the health negatives with being at a computer for hours at a time. You can really screw with your spine and eyes if you don't take breaks.

 

I call that a smoke break.

 

Also, the health of others is no business of anyone but the person concerned. If they are under age, then their parents have a say, but this shit should not be a law of any kind.

[Guest Kloaked]

Wow...just.

 

 

Wow. God forbid people have unlimited access to a medium that can make them more intelligent and educated, can't have that shit going on, bad for government.

 

 

I call that a smoke break.

 

Also, the health of others is no business of anyone but the person concerned. If they are under age, then their parents have a say, but this shit should not be a law of any kind.

 

This is directed at minors. Do you really expect every single minor to use the internet for educational purposes only? Lol.

[Trik'Stari]

This is directed at minors. Do you really expect every single minor to use the internet for educational purposes only? Lol.

No I don't. But that doesn't mean a law should be enacted that can prevent them from seeking education.

[LAwLz]

Don't forget the health negatives with being at a computer for hours at a time. You can really screw with your spine and eyes if you don't take breaks.

That's very true. If you are going to spend long amounts of times at your computer you should take regular breaks and your things should be ergonomic.

In my high school we used computers for everything (each student got a laptop to do everything on) and we had to take breaks and do exercises in the middle of class to prevent injuries.

 

I wouldn't really say that is related to the computer itself though, it's more of a "it's bad to sit still for a long time" problem. You would get the same issues no matter what you do while sitting still. If someone had the routine of first studying, then reading books, then watching TV, then sketching, then talking on the phone he/she could also suffer from the same physical problems because all of those are things done while sitting still as well.

 

 

This is directed at minors. Do you really expect every single minor to use the internet for educational purposes only? Lol.

The problem is that this will basically make it so that all children has a limited amount of time at their computer, no matter what they do though. Of course no child will only use their computer to study, but with this law they might spend 2 hours playing a game and then when they are about to study the law will tell them "no, you have used up your computer time for today". In those situations (which I think will be very common) this law actively makes it illegal to study, if you have played games or done something else at your computer first. A parent won't think "oh my son spent 2 hours playing games and then spent 2 hours studying". A parent will think "my son has spent 4 hours at the computer. That's too much! Better take him away immediately".

[SIGSEGV]

Ugh... Not more of this bullcrap

[Maslofski]

"oooooooh, its forbiden, so i must do it and risk my parents getting fined"

[spartaman64]

well lynda.com wont become a thing in taiwan. i usually cant play games when my parents are around so most of the time im on the internet amusing myself by researching random stuff

[Guest Kloaked]

No I don't. But that doesn't mean a law should be enacted that can prevent them from seeking education.

 

There's other mediums of education even if that were the case.

 

The problem is that this will basically make it so that all children has a limited amount of time at their computer, no matter what they do though. Of course no child will only use their computer to study, but with this law they might spend 2 hours playing a game and then when they are about to study the law will tell them "no, you have used up your computer time for today". In those situations (which I think will be very common) this law actively makes it illegal to study, if you have played games or done something else at your computer first. A parent won't think "oh my son spent 2 hours playing games and then spent 2 hours studying". A parent will think "my son has spent 4 hours at the computer. That's too much! Better take him away immediately".

 

The only form of time brought up was a recommendation. The law supposedly says a reasonable amount of time. So I would think that reasonable would mean that exceptions could be made for educational purposes, like homework or studying.

 

Unless I'm just not understanding something.

[YellowDragon]

Pick up a book, how do you think we learned languages before? 

Pick up a newspaper, how do you think we got the news before? 

Don't act like computers are the only way to function anymore. 

 What is this? the Stone Age?

The thing is a computer with access to the internet is faster, more accurate and has more current information on pretty much everything.

 

For those in technology fields it is the only way to function, most programming books are out of date before they even hit shelfs or become outdated so quickly its not feasible to keep buying new ones. The medium of consuming information has evolved from dead trees to 1's and 0's. Might as well just say that all information is poisonous to humans. It would be downright hysterical if someone died while doing a book reading binge (has happened) to put this argument on its head.

 

Soooo......yeah. Ill pick up a computer, ereader or tablet over any other form of media any day of the week.

 

(in all seriousness this law is downright stupid and unenforceable)

[Dabombinable]

So... another government that forgets that looking after kids is the parents responsibility.

[LAwLz]

The only form of time brought up was a recommendation. The law supposedly says a reasonable amount of time. So I would think that reasonable would mean that exceptions could be made for educational purposes, like homework or studying.

 

Unless I'm just not understanding something.

Yes that seems to be the case. The problem though is that again, parents or the law makers most likely won't separate between different things being done on the computer. Let's flip the previous scenario around. Imagine that someone studied before wanting to play a game. After let's say 3 hours of studying you might want to relax with some fun gaming, but oh no! The law states that you are not allowed to play games on your computer after having studied for that long. So what are kids going to do? Probably study less the next time. What should the parents do? If they end up making a mistake when limiting the amount of time their child spends at a computer they can be fined 1600 dollars. With such a harsh punishment they will overestimate how much time their child has spent playing a game rather than underestimate it.

 

Putting limitations on computers today is as devastating as putting a single, shared time limit on phones, homework, TV, books, music players, newspapers, talking with friends, playing games and lots of other hobbies would have been 20-30 years ago.

 

 

The more I think about this, the more issues I see come up for people which genuinely want to use their computers responsible and for good things. It's never a good thing to have a law that encourages less studying and prevents some people from studying as much as they want.

[Biggerisbetter]

I think there's a lot more to it than what meets the eye. Using the death at a internet cafe is just an excuse to deploy social engineering. It's a well known fact that a lot of developed Asian countries are suffering from a low birthrate per 1000. They want to stop kids from spending so much time with electronic devices. They want kids to interact socially with people face to face. By enacting these types of laws now, they hope to change their aging and dying population.

 

I could be wrong just my 2cents

[FakezZ]

Well yeah let's hold society back... Gj Taiwan. 

[Doobeedoo]

Government will always spit out ridiculous laws like this and confused, apathetic people won't stand against.

[TopWargamer]

This is just sad when the government has to regulate something that should be "regulated" by parents. This is a parent's job to tell their children what to do while they live under their roof. The government should not be involved at all.

 

On a side note on how stupid this is:

"Guys, I did something illegal last night."

"What did you do man!?"

"I stared at my computer screen for 3 hours."

[SpaceSquid]

next thing you know is government limiting how long you can drive for, what next?