EdTalk | The darker side of computer gaming is beginning to emerge in Hong Kong’s schools

In recent years, gaming has become a daily staple for a number of children. As a recent South China Morning Post article highlighted, a University of Hong Kong study has shown that the city’s children are exposed to more screen time than their peers in mainland China or the United States, with kindergarten children’s risk of developing behavioural problems increasing by a staggering 44.4 per cent for every extra hour a day watching television.

Is it time for Hong Kong educators to start addressing the epidemic that is sweeping the city: excessive gaming and screen time? The president of Hong Kong’s Psychotherapy Society and a psychologist at Central Health, John Shanahan, believes that the addiction can start as early as toddlers and early years.

“Parental modelling of technology use is vital; babies and toddlers are curious, so constantly seeing their parents on the phone will draw them to their parent’s device,” he says. “If it’s gripping their parent’s attention, it must be something worth playing with.”

The growing trend of seeing children on iPads and phones at dinner or breakfast to keep them entertained is alarming, and is setting a precedent for that child’s future acceptance and reliance on devices. Aside from the visible effects of obesity, whereby children get used to shovelling food in their mouths mindlessly without even noticing what they’re eating, screen time at a young age can also be a predictor of usage in later life. Without teaching appropriate use, psychologists believe that an individual’s screen time increases annually, and by the time a child reaches two or 11, their perceived limits of boundaries will already be established, making it difficult, if not impossible to reverse.

This is not to say that there are no positive uses of electronic devices. They can help stimulation, and if used correctly, where children engage with an electronic device, video games can enhance a child’s critical thinking, their logic, and their cognitive activity. These positives are one of the benefits of modern devices, and are the reason why many schools are moving towards requiring all children to have their own laptop in the classroom. But with a personal laptop, not only comes more screen time, but more independence on the internet, which allows children to access violent games that are often well-beyond their maturity level.