South Korea Blocks Late-Night Online Gaming for Adolescents 108
PolygamousRanchKid writes "In its effort to curb game addiction among adolescents, South Korea pulled the plug this weekend on young gamers after midnight by blocking access to game websites, putting a hotly debated law into practice. The new system called the 'shutdown law,' also referred to as the 'Cinderella law,' blocks those under the age of 16 from accessing gaming websites after midnight and has fueled heated anger among younger gamers and avid game fans. Critics point out that many teenagers hold gaming accounts created with their parent's personal information, easily providing them with an alternative log-in option. 'You can say someone is an alcoholic if they drink more than three bottles (of liquor) a day, but you can't call them alcoholic because they drink after midnight. It's the same with gaming,' Lee Byung-chan, the lawyer who filed the petition on behalf of parents and a young gamer said. 'From the parents' point of view, it violates their right to educate their children,' Lee added. It is for the parents to decide what time they want to allow their children to play games or not, not for the government to exclude them from that process, the argument goes."
Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Having people exert themselves mentally or physically actually does make them tired. Games dont do either.
Re:Another idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Interesting)
And, like chess, it has no skills that transfer on later in life. The burnout age for professional starcraft players is under the age of 30. After school programs like chess at least promote some level of socialization (no matter how remote). Sports and other extracurricular activities promote health and socialization, among other things.
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'socialization' isn't the only thing to vie for in life. it's a component, not the be-all-end-all. also, many of these kids would be ridiculed if they tried out for athletic teams.
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'socialization' isn't the only thing to vie for in life. it's a component, not the be-all-end-all. also, many of these kids would be ridiculed if they tried out for athletic teams.
That attitude is self-defeating. Any kid can learn a sport well enough to compete if they try. With rare exceptions, high school sports really aren't all that competitive, and if your school does have a top tier team in one sport, you can just aim for another. It's healthy, it builds self-confidence, and it preps you for later in life when you meet new people who might want to do a pickup game of basketball or start a company softball team.
Our culture likes to push this idea that if you're smart you must
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So you're aiming for sports for the sake of sports? So if I like football but I'm not really good at it, I should consider switching to boxing because it's a niche in my school?
Good job.
Why not actually offer your kids alternatives without pushing them into one direction or other?
Re:Sports and Academics (Score:2)
Our culture likes to push this idea that if you're smart you must be an unathletic weakling. It's self-fulfilling. We tell kids that if they're smart, they'd just humiliate themselves by trying out for a team. They believe it, don't try out, and become weak for lack of exercise.
Funny, we seem to have missed that message. My senior year in high school, the lead player on the state high school basketball championship team (kind of a state religion here in Indiana), who also won the Arthur Trester Award that year as the outstanding individual player was also a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. In fact, the coach coach of that team attributed their victory at least in part to the fact that his team had the highest GPA and highest standardized test scores of any team in the Final
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Sports beyond football have been known to exist - baseball, tennis, swimming etc. If you want to expand beyond that, there's marching band, dance, ballet, cheerleading etc which require more finesse and coordination, but less brute strength. The same skills you list to be learned from SC can be learned on the speech or debate team at any school, and are more directly transferable to jobs. I don't doubt people enjoy SC (otherwise Blizzard may not have existed today) but I have reservations about how well being a top notch SC player translates in to being a successful person in meatspace. Many speech/debate students at the national level end up as successful law students based on the skills they learned through debate.
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And what life skills are you learning by posting on Slashdot? Shouldn't you be out working on your debating skills, instead of involved in an activity which, while it may be relaxing and enjoyable, doesn't serve to further equip you for life?
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
How about everyone does what they enjoy in their time? Why does the state or you for that matter think you know what's best for someone else?
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Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Your comment raises another interesting question: when does someone cease to be a child? At 21, when they are allowed to drink alcohol? At 18, like in Europe? At 16, when they are allowed to drive a car? At 14, when they get their ID card (at least here in RO)? Or are these all, um, I don't know, standard ages that don't really reflect anything?
I remember being more mature at 14 than most of my school mates; I was interested in the same things and activities people aged 20-24 were usually performing (except sex, that was still blurry to me, of course). I was rather lonely at school because of that. Even now, in my low 30s, I would rather spend time with people aged 40+ because they better fit my areas of interest and I have more productive discussions with them.
So please... I was perfectly able to function as an adult at 16. On the other hand, some people can't properly function as adults even after reaching 40.
It's down to the human being itself; so when a government applies a blanket law like this I call bullshit.
"Everyone under age of 16 shouldn't play games after midnight" - probably holds true up to some extent. But actually forbidding it - that's dangerously close to dictatorship.
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Socialization is only important to those who it is important to.
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Wrong, socialization is important for the mental health of all people, even people with autism spectrum disorders.
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"Important" as in "valuable." Different people value different things. And even people who are constantly online get a tiny bit of socialization.
It's up to them to get more.
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Also, I doubt that a person would go insane without any socialization. Depending on the person, that is. If you have someone who doesn't care about socializing (but doesn't mind doing it), and you place them in a world without any people (one that still has food, water, entertainment, etc), I think they'd be fine. I'd say it depends on the person, and I'd be hesitant to use the word "all."
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There are athletic sports where an average career lasts for about 3 years (American Football) with skills that do not transfer on later in life.
Re:Chess (Score:2)
I disagree here about Chess.
There's two time periods: Pre 1995 and 1995-2012 (to go all Mayan about it.)
Pre 1995 chess was about Localism and learning to be a medium fish in small ponds where everyone had the informants and ECO and 12 books, but you could get snookered by a good over the board response you just never saw coming.
1995-2012 chess is about information research, computer pre-checking your repetoire. Sure, it will hasten the decline of chess but come on, it's been in the top 5 durable games ever.
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I know! I love the look on HR's face when they see my actions per minute is over 300. Their eyes just light up, knowing that they have a new zerg rush champ for staff appreciation day.
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it has no skills that transfer on later in life.
I've always thought that the ability to plan and schedule creation of troops within the constraints of a resources budget would translate nicely to some project management type roles. Just my 2c.
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Having people exert themselves mentally or physically actually does make them tired. Games dont do either.
There is plenty of mental exertion in games, particularly the most popular RTS games. And have you ever played Wii, PSMove or Kinect games? Certainly plenty of physical exertion to be had there.
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Re:Another idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Pot circles, keggers, and wild make-out parties are excellent after-school activities for healthy teenagers. Perhaps they could get school district funding.
Re:Another idea (Score:4, Funny)
Pot circles, keggers, and wild make-out parties
we used to have pot triangles; but for some reason, our weed kept disappearing!
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Right word, wrong context. (Score:4, Interesting)
In the west we simply assume that the kids who do that will one day make an excellent addition to the staff at McDonalds... After all, if their parents are stupid enough to let their kids stay up late like that on school nights, then the kids are most likely equally worthless... so screw them. Korea on the other hand appears to think that these kids shouldn't be showing up looking dead to school each day, getting poor grades and taking away from the students who will be more motivated.
Now... I on the other hand stayed up until 4am on school days programming and designing electronics which made me utterly worthless in school each day... if I deigned to present myself there at all. I was more interested in learning than attending school (though I did read all the text books cover to cover... hence learning). I'm not quite sure that becoming a better Starcraft player counts as educational though.
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Nice strawman you've got there. Most people who object to these kinds of government intervention dislike them exactly because they don't want people making judgements about other's actions and intervening. I think a parent who allows there kids to stay up to the early hours on school days is probably making a mistake, it doesn't mean I want the government to try and control it. As to your
Battle.net (Score:1)
Cool, I'm worse than South Korea (Score:1)
The network at home shuts down at 11 (only if I'm not logged on to my PC of course) and doesn't come back up until 7.
Got fed up with my kids leaving the server and gateway machines (next to our bedroom) on all night ;).
These were young adults, not teenagers and slow to learn the Golden Rule
(Fear the BOFH)
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South Koreans are like Mogwais (Score:2, Funny)
Don't let them game after midnight.
No such thing as single player (Score:5, Funny)
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I just started it yesterday and regret it so much now :( I got no time for this!!!!112
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Not if these games phone home online. :(
Military Service (Score:3, Informative)
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Re:Military Service (Score:4, Insightful)
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Put away the pitchfork, he was talking about the mandatory military service in South Korea, he was not expressing the opinion that military service should be mandatory.
My cousin was crippled by mandatory military service in Egypt. He is now a permanent paraplegic and almost died. I'm not close - I haven't seen him in almost 3 decades but every time I think of mandatory military service and my children I get a chill.
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My cousin was crippled by mandatory military service in Egypt. He is now a permanent paraplegic and almost died. I'm not close - I haven't seen him in almost 3 decades but every time I think of mandatory military service and my children I get a chill.
A Greek friend-of-a-friend was doing his military service. He was the navigator for a tank doing some exercise at night. He told the driver to stop, as it was so foggy he could no longer see the road. The supervising sergeant said he knew the area and took over -- and a few minutes later directed the tank off a shallow cliff, which rolled it over, killing the sergeant and injuring some of the teenage soldiers.
If compulsory service is necessary I don't see any benefit in making that service in the military
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would also be a reason for escapism in games.
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If that's how stupidly you react over someone mentioning a fact, without even expressing an opinion, then I've got chills about the fact you've got children.
You know nothing about me. To say such a thing makes you little more than a nasty piece of work and a troll. Everyone who can read has misread something once in a while. That does not mean you should question or disparage their parenting. Have some manners.
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And there was much rejoicing.... (Score:5, Funny)
Finally, professional Starcraft players from other countries finally have a chance!
(based on the single "Barcraft" I've been to, iirc the semifinals were all South Koreans)
Re:And there was much rejoicing.... (Score:5, Informative)
Gamers in Korea? (Score:1)
Wait, South Korea!?
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'You can say someone is an alcoholic if they drink more than three bottles (of liquor) a day, but you can't call them alcoholic because they drink after midnight. It's the same with gaming,'
But you can be pretty sure something is up if they drink before 10 AM.
Or, as I've heard it put, you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning.
Tools (Score:2)
They way I see it, it's still possible for parents to educate their teens in any way they see fit, for if they want to allow their son/daughter to play after midnight, all they have to do is create an account with the parents' names on it.
I think this law is only providing a good tool for parents to control their children's addiction. Of course, if it's as simple as creating an account using your parents' info (without them requiring to sign up on anything), then the whole thing is kindda useless, but the a
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QMuDihPPyPA/TFBCC4Wv0qI/AAAAAAAANpU/qiFZoulx9cU/s1600/farside-hopeful-parents.gif [blogspot.com]
Change "Hopeful" to "South Korean"
How about... (Score:1)
Having their parents be parents instead of making a lame law?
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Maybe the parents support the lame law? Makes their life easier, doesn't it?
Games get a higher priority over studies then? (Score:4, Insightful)
A) I can do homework and studies after midnight, but no games, then I am going to game till midnight and study after that
but if the restriction wasnt there,
B) I would finish off studies first and game after that for whatever amount of time I want
in A, I'm playing with a fresh mind, and studying with a tired mind
In B its the reverse
Why would the govt. want students to study with a tired mind?
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Any links for that?
The education system in South Korea is so broken where they put less importance in socialization, communication and debates skills and focus on learning math, physics, and English.
This happens in India as well, but school is 8AM to (2-4)PM here
Do they realize what they-- (Score:1)
Nevermind, Leenock is safe.
I'm not a medical expert (Score:4, Interesting)
But it seems pretty obvious to me that we should start treating addictions, especially "gaming addiction" as a symptom instead of a disease. In fact, symptom may be too strong of a word--coping mechanism might be more suitable. I'm not going to tell you that kids can't stay up all night, neglect their schoolwork, and seriously harm their academic futures by way of "gaming addiction"--but we really ought to be a lot more concerned with figuring out why certain kids feel like they need that sort of escapism in their life rather than just slapping some sort of one-size fits all band-aid on the situation and then patting ourselves on our collective backs.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that "gaming is treatment" and therefore it shouldn't be restricted. To the contrary, I understand that it may be necessary to limit a child's access to video games in order to prevent them from entering a cycle of excessive gaming --> Failure --> depression --> more gaming ---> more failure --> etc. I'm just saying each child's situation and problems are completely different, and that no singular solution is going to fix every kid, and for some, something like this might do more harm than good. I have no doubt in my mind that for some kids, video games are the thin line between "coping on a day to day basis" and "suicidal tendencies". We may be seeing policies like this in China and Korea first, but many western countries aren't too far behind unless there's a sudden outbreak of common sense.
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I am an expert, and addiction IS a symptom any always was.
But you are right in a more general way: Most doctors seem to act as if symptoms were diseases... in general. And as if their source could be *an organ*. Which is pretty damn dangerous as a mindset of society.
In reality, there are only two sources of diseases: Genes and a influence from outside world. Period. Never ever forget that.
Outside influences can be: Food, social interaction, cleaning and hygiene chemicals, and generally environmental hazards
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"More gaming -> ... -> more gaming" works out okay for the gaming companies, doesn't it?
Unintended consequences (Score:2)
This may be an unintended consequence of a law that was recently passed in SK that prohibited late night classes from going past 10pm (roughly 1-2 years ago). In SK it was very common for teenage students to attend classes or study halls until around midnight before heading home. It seems possible that with that with the extra time they have available they now just go to the PC room (internet cafe) and game rather than going home (many Koreans game at PC rooms rather than at home).
Interesting to see how thi
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What about the other *addiction*? (Score:2)
Why don't people ever discuss *that* addiction?
I'm an introvert but I've been quite happy with my life despite coming off as quiet and reserved compared to most people. I just do not find human culture as the pinna
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Why not handle the actual problem? (Score:2)
South Korea and MMOs (Score:2)
A lot of fun games come out of South Korea. I've played a few MMOs and other online games from there. However, the most annoying thing is the fatigue systems they put in. I can't even sit around with my friends, drink, and play any of these games with them over a Saturday because any in game gains I get will be cut off after an hour or two of playing. I used to play Dungeon Fighter Online, for example, and could only get about 3% of a level per day because the experience requirement was so high and I wa
This is Good (Score:1)
Soju for everyone!!! (Score:1)
'You can say someone is an alcoholic if they drink more than three bottles (of liquor) a day...
A DAY??
Whoa, South Korea—you scary! (And I've drunk soju.)