Rajasthan govt issues advisory to prevent gaming addiction in children

The Rajasthan government has issued an advisory for parents and teachers suggesting measures to protect children from addiction to online gaming.

The advisory issued by the Rajasthan Council of School Education on Saturday suggests technical points which are helpful in monitoring the activities and involvement of the children in gaming.

The parents and teachers have been asked to keep a watch if children are behaving in an abnormal manner and whether they are mostly involved in online activities, sudden increase in time spent online, especially on social media, and they turn aggressive after using the internet.

The advisory suggested establishing an "internet gateway" at home which will help in effectively monitoring their child's internet use.

It also suggested that it should be ensured that the child accesses internet from a computer placed in family space.

"In this age of technology, online gaming is very popular among children. The closure of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic has increased the use of mobile and internet among children, due to which the trend of online gaming among children has also increased rapidly," Sana Siddiqui, deputy commissioner of the council, said.

She said these online games are easily accessible to children and are played on devices like computers, tablets and mobiles connected with the internet.

"These games are designed in such a way that they excite the player to the extent of passion to play further. This is the reason why players become addicted to it and eventually suffer from gaming disorder due to which the educational and social life of the child is adversely impacted," Siddiqui said.