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China Looking To Limit Phone Time For Minors To Two Hours A Day 

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China is proposing new measures that would limit that amount of time minors spend on their phones as a part of their initiative to curb internet addiction and “cultivate good morality and socialist values,” according to reports. 

The proposal came from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the nation’s top internet regulator. The proposal requires all mobile devices, apps, and app stores to have a built in “minor mode” that would limit daily screen time for kids and teens to a maximum of two hours a day, depending on the specific age group. 

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These restrictions, if approved, will add onto current measures that were passed as a part of Beijing’s effort to limit screen time among kids and reduce their “exposure to undesirable information,” according to CNN.

The proposal’s rules will be open for public discussion until September 2nd. If it were to pass, kids and teens using devices on minor mode will have all of their applications close automatically once their time limits are up. Also, no one under the age of 18 will be able to access their screens from 10 pm to 6 am. 

Children under the age of eight will be able to use their phones for only 40 minutes a day while kids between the ages of eight and 16 will get an hour. Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 will be allotted two hours. 

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After using their devices for 30 minutes, all age groups will receive a reminder to rest. The Cyberspace Administration also thinks “mobile internet service providers should actively create content that disseminates core socialist values  and forges a sense of community of the Chinese nation,” according to the draft.

Certain educational services as well as emergency services will not be impacted by the time limits. 

According to CNN, parents are on board with the proposal. “I think it’s good. On the one hand, it can protect their vision as many young kids cannot stop themselves while watching something they like. On the other hand, it’s easier for us parents to control our kids’ screen time. Most importantly the content under the minor mode is more positive and healthy,” one parent said. 

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, China has one of the world’s largest internet user bases, with about 1.07 billion users out of a population of 1.4 billion. One in five users were 19 years old or younger, as of December 2022. 

Baby Chicks

Indonesia Is Giving Kids Baby Chicks To Combat Internet Addiction

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As this decade comes to a close and we begin a new one, it’s safe to say a lot has changed within the past 10 years. What’s been the most significant and obvious transformation is how much technological advances have been made. We now have phones that we unlock using our faces or fingerprints, headsets that let us enter the world’s that video games create, cars that drive for us, and an endless stream of social media posts and notifications. While this new technology has advanced us as a society, it also has its major drawbacks, one of the biggest being how dependent we all are on it, especially the younger generation. 

Kids are becoming more addicted to social media and the internet every year, and a huge part of that has to do with how accessible personal internet devices have now become. More parents are allowing their children to own either a tablet, phone, laptop, etc. whatever is easiest and can work as the best distraction for them. While this practice may be quite common here in America, other parts of the world are putting great efforts into preventing their children from becoming overly dependent on these devices. 

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Specifically, a city in Indonesia is combating internet addiction in kids with trees, and chicks. Bandung, Indonesia has launched a new program in which students are given both a baby chicken and chili seeds in an attempt to get their eyes off the screen, and onto the process of growth in the natural world. Kids ranging from elementary school to junior high school are being given the responsibility of caring for their new “exotic” pets and plants to grow. According to CNN, The Bandung government backed the pilot program and has provided 2,000 chicks and 1,500 chili seeds to 12 schools in the Bandung districts (10 elementary schools and two junior high schools). 

As stated above this program is still in its “pilot” phase, meaning the results in regards to internet use is unconfirmed, however, educators have high hopes that growing trees and caring for young chicks will help motivate the kids to focus on what’s real. CNN reports that the Mayor of Bandung, Mayor Oded Danial, kicked off the program by holding a “symbolic hand-over ceremony” in which the chicks were handed off to the kids as their new caregivers. 

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This program is happening in Indonesia specifically due to increased smartphone addiction rate which is growing concerns amongst many parents in the country.  According to the Global Digital Report for 2019, South Asia has one of the highest online presence globally, and the average Indonesian internet user spends an average of nine hours a day online! For reference, that’s two hours more than the GLOBAL average. 

Several parents in Bandung appeared supportive of the program dubbed ‘chickenization.’”It’s good to increase the discipline of children. Caring for trees is better than playing with cell phones,” local parent Elis Puri said to CNN.

The children themselves are just as excited, local accounts for the program showed off several plans that all the kids had for the baby chicks. Some said they would like to begin breeding chickens in general to create a constant source of eggs and protein for his family, others had a little more morbid of a plan and want to raise the chick until they’re big enough to eat. At least they have a solid plan for raising the babies.  

Local government officials and school officials plan on monitoring the program for the next year. They plan on recording data on both how successful every child is at maintenance care for their pets and plants, as well as their average internet use in comparison to before the program was implemented into their lives.