With the rapid development of the Internet and smart phones, the proportion of primary and secondary school students exposed to mobile phones and online games is increasing, which has aroused widespread concern of the whole society about online games and the education and growth of primary and secondary school students. A few days ago, China Youth Research Center released the Research Report on Cognition, Attitude and Behavior of Online Games for Primary and Secondary School Students (hereinafter referred to as the Report). According to the Report, 76.3% of students have been exposed to online games since primary school, and parents’ supervision of their children’s playing games is mostly based on grades.
This study mainly adopts the empirical method, and conducts one-on-one questionnaire survey among primary and secondary school students and their parents in six cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Hefei, Chengdu, Baoji and Liaoyang, through targeted sampling and random sampling. The subjects were students from grade four in primary school to grade three in senior high school, and 3202 valid questionnaires were obtained.
76.3% of students have been exposed to online games since primary school.
As an Internet entertainment project, the number of users of online games has increased with the development of Internet technology. According to the 43rd Statistical Report on Internet Development in China issued by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of December 2018, the number of users of online games in China was 484 million. The phenomenon that young people touch the net and teenagers are addicted to online games is attracting more attention.
The survey found that 51.5% of the students made it clear that they like playing online games. 76.3% of students have been exposed to online games since primary school, with the highest proportion (30.3%) in the fifth and sixth grades of primary school.
Buying equipment, comparing grades and playing team battles, the terminology in the game has become the spoken language of many teenagers, and the attraction of online games to teenagers is increasing. So, how do teenagers view and understand online games?
The survey shows that 91.6% of primary and middle school students think that online games make their spare time more enjoyable. The functions of online games to broaden horizons and thinking, make friends, cultivate self-control and enrich life are also recognized by more students. More than 60% of students (66.6%) think that the advantages and disadvantages of playing online games are equal, 23.3% think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and 10.2% think that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
According to the report, most primary and secondary school students hold a positive view of online games, which means that adults need to treat minors’ attitudes towards online games with an accepting attitude. Parents should not make their children’s leisure time too utilitarian. If they want to make their children’s leisure life meaningful, they must have fun.
Many parents regard academic performance as the standard for their children to play games. According to the data in the Report, the students with the top academic achievements are the first group to play online games, and the proportion of them who started playing online games in preschool and primary schools is 82.6%. Secondly, students with upper and middle grades (81.4%), while the proportion of students with lower grades who started to contact online games in pre-school and primary school was 73.3%. According to the report, students who study well can get more support in playing online games, which may be because in the eyes of their peers and elders, good grades can "cover up all the ugliness."
Children from democratic families are more aware of the negative effects of online games.
Many teenagers can’t resist the temptation of online games, playing games with their mobile phones all day, and even more addicted to online games, which leads to tragedy. In April 2018, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued the "Emergency Notice on Doing a Good Job in Preventing Primary and Secondary School Students from Indulging in Online Education", proposing to urge parents to perform their guardianship duties and remind parents to strengthen communication with their children, especially to arrange their children’s after-school and holiday life, guide children to surf the Internet green, and find, stop and correct their online game addiction and improper consumption behavior in time.
The study found that although many parents are worried that their children are addicted to online games, the means of supervision and control are not efficient. According to the Report, stipulating the time for children to play online games is the most common measure taken by parents (66.6%), followed by supervising the time for children to play online games (55.7%) and limiting the expenses for children to play online games (52.7%). However, only 15.6% and 13.8% can tell children about online games and play online games with them. In addition, parents spend more time supervising games for children with good grades and looking for teachers for children with poor grades.
Not long ago, a video caught the attention of netizens. The parents in the video entered the game group and roared: "What group are you!" Apart from yelling and strict restrictions on children playing games, what methods can effectively prevent children from indulging in games?
Tian Feng, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that in the era of mobile Internet, letting children completely get rid of games will lead to a certain separation between children and the times. Parents should change their attitudes, discuss instead of instigating, approach their children, accompany them, and understand and understand them psychologically, so as to achieve better results.
Family education will affect children’s online habits to some extent. Previously, the "Reading Book of Teenagers’ Network Literacy Education" published by the National Survey and Big Data Research Center of China Academy of Social Sciences and Social Science Literature Publishing House showed that children in four families are more likely to use the Internet excessively, namely, families with few parent-child activities, families with parents resisting the Internet, families with rude education, and families with absent parents.
This report also found that the way of family education has a certain relationship with children’s online game behavior. The parent-child relationship in democratic families is more harmonious, parents can understand their children’s thoughts better, and children have a high degree of acceptance of their parents and are more willing to listen to their opinions or suggestions. Therefore, children may have a deeper understanding of some negative effects of online games. However, children who grow up in the doting, neglecting and authoritarian upbringing mode are less influenced by their parents and more influenced by peers and classmates, so they agree with some benefits of online games.
According to the Report, the senior grade of primary school is the peak period of students’ contact with online games. It is necessary to establish rules and cultivate habits when primary and secondary school students first start to contact the Internet, so that students can form good habits.
China Youth Daily Zhongqing Online Reporter Sun Shan Source: China Youth Daily
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