What should we do if our children are addicted to mobile phones and recharge large amounts of money for online games?

As the age for accessing the Internet continues to decrease, how to manage the use of the Internet by minors is becoming a concern for many parents.
“Can we supervise children’s use of mobile phones?” “How can parents know what their children are doing online?” “My children have charged a lot of money to play games, how can I get a refund?”… Similar questions are becoming more and more common among parents. Real “anxiety”.
On November 17, the group standards seminar on “Guidelines for Mobile Intelligent Terminals Suitable for Minors” and “Requirements for the Consumption Management of Online Game Services for Minors” were held in Beijing. The meeting focused on issues that parents are concerned about, and discussed with major manufacturers in related industries, trying to explore how to create an online environment that is conducive to the physical and mental health of minors.
Seminar site.Photo courtesy of the association
How to manage the time children spend playing mobile phones?
Among them, the group standard “Guidelines for Mobile Intelligent Terminals Suitable for Minors” was announced by the Internet Society of China in September this year. The seminar focused on issues such as preventing minors from being exposed to harmful and inappropriate information and excessive use of smart mobile terminals.
On the one hand, from the perspective of parents, it is hoped that terminal control measures can be used to obtain and manage information such as the time and records of minors using mobile phones. But on the other hand, some industry insiders pointed out that while parents are strengthening the management of minors’ Internet use, they must also consider protecting minors’ privacy and other rights and interests.
Industry insiders who participated in the meeting suggested that on related issues, the protection of minors should be implemented in a soft way, and issues such as how parents communicate with their children and how to avoid causing rebellious psychology in children should be taken into consideration, so as to promote family harmony and keep children healthy. The ultimate goal of growth.
Who is responsible for the large recharge of minors playing games?
The group standard “Requirements for the Consumption Management of Online Game Services for Minors” was issued by the Internet Society of China on November 16. The seminar focused on issues such as the refund of large-amount recharges for online games by minors.
In most people’s perception, game recharge is directly related to game developers. During this seminar, many participating game manufacturers made it clear that the amount of players’ recharges is not equivalent to the game manufacturers’ revenue. “Because the channel will deduct channel fees, game manufacturers cannot get the full amount of players’ recharges. .”
Therefore, when parents ask game manufacturers for recharge fees for minors, they are often unable to obtain a full refund from the game manufacturers. Many game manufacturer representatives believe that channel parties should be included in relevant supervision to avoid further disputes during the refund process.
Parents should also take responsibility
It is worth noting that although minors were the protagonists in the seminars, both seminars had in-depth discussions on the rights and responsibilities of adults, especially guardians. “You cannot attribute all children’s problems to technology” became the consensus of the participants.
Taking the issue related to game recharges for minors as an example, the drafters of the group standard “Requirements for the Management of Consumption of Online Game Services for Minors” proposed that if guardians knew or should have known that minors were bypassing anti-addiction restrictions but failed to stop them, If a minor overcharges his account, the guardian shall bear 30%-70% of the responsibility.
In this regard, some experts participating in the meeting said that during the process of parental supervision, if minors repeatedly recharge and refund, become addicted to games, etc., parents should be punished accordingly.
Wang Bin, secretary-general of the Internet Society of China’s Minors Internet Protection and Development Working Committee, revealed that the association will organize symposiums involving parents and children on such issues to collect opinions from all parties and formulate scientific and reasonable standards.
It is reported that the Internet Society of China’s Minors Internet Protection and Development Working Committee will also hold relevant activities on the occasion of World Children’s Day on November 20. (over)