Korea Sets Curfew for Underage Gamers

[rembrandtqeinstein]

If children under 15 are being allowed to go and do what ever they please, to the effect that its damaging their performance of school and is wide spread enough that the government is taking notice, then the government should step in as parents are obviously failing in their paternal duties.

This is where we disagree. If the "children" aren't harming anyone (else), and their parents approve, or at least don't object, then why do they need any restrictions? Their school performance is the business of the child and the parent.

This is the same, knee jerk, nanny state bollox that is brought up by EVERY generation. As soon as one group of old people step out of office another group of old people step in. The refrain goes like this "We didn't have this when we were kids and we turned out fine. We don't understand this /thing/ so we fear it. We have power so we will impose that power on those who don't have power, just like the previous generation did to us."

witches
records
radio
swing dancing
communism
television
rock and roll
comic books
dungeons and dragons
heavy metal
and now video games

All moral panics, the country is different but the actions are the same.

Governments need to stick to figuring out the most efficient way of providing non-rivalrous non-exclusive public goods and leave the parenting to the parents.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Good thing nobody every lies about their age on the internet.

And I can see it now, back alley gaming parlors where you have to know someone to get in.

People in government really need to study the formula....

prohibition of victimless activity + demand = black market

Actually I think in Korea to play any online game on a PC you have to enter your SSN (the Korean equivalent anyway) If my understanding is right you can't lie about your age on the internet in Korea. It's how they make sure only people in their country are playing their games.

It's kind of a xenophobic approach to playing MMO's or online games if you ask me, but hey I don't live there so I don't really care. (I may be wrong about the SSN thing if I am I know someone won't hesitate to correct me :3 )

 

[ExplosionProofTaco]

Korea's National Assembly unanimously passed a law on Wednesday that would limit the time that children under 15 could spend playing games online.

Holy Shit! If we had that law, Halo would have an AMAZING Community after hours!

 

[Realitycrash]

let's let Korea give it a try and see how it turns out.

The grammar-nazi in me forces me to point out that this sentence is sketchy, at best.

"Let's let"?

OT: Maybe they enforce it just at internet-cafés and such?

The sentence is ok, you just have OCD.
___________________________________________________________________
My battle.net account probably says I am 53.

Pardon me, a wee bit drunk now..What does OCD mean?

 

[Realitycrash]

let's let Korea give it a try and see how it turns out.

The grammar-nazi in me forces me to point out that this sentence is sketchy, at best.

"Let's let"?

OT: Maybe they enforce it just at internet-cafés and such?

Sorry to quote just for this but...

How do you do the ( ' ) over the ( e )?

Well, on a Swedish-keyboard, you press the button next to the question-mark button, which is next to digit number 0, just before you press E.

 

[MrShadowzs]

yeah this law seems almost impossible to enforce, on the other hand, it might actually be good for the kids in Korea if they didn't play so much and focused on other thing

 

[DefinitelyPsychotic]

Damn, I really hope the United States doesn't try anything like this... The poor kids! Haha

 

[Lucane]

Well, on a Swedish-keyboard, you press the button next to the question-mark button, which is next to digit number 0, just before you press E.

Curses, different keyboard set-up I''ll just have to look it up else where Thanks though.

 

[Rayansaki]

It's enforceable in WoW and SC2 because of the way Battle.net accounts work in Korea. You need a social security number to create an account. You could get an account from someone else I guess, but your existing account would be affected.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Have to say...good.

Perhaps the curfew is a bit early, but I really think limiting late night sessions is a good thing for kids growing up. (And this is not just me talking as an adult - I'd do it to myself at that age)

 

[The Cake Is Annoying]

I declare this to the greatest false flag project of today. If there is ever a way to research how a large number of children can effectively lie about their age on the internet to get access to *cough* sites containing more mature aspect of modern living (ahem) this will surely be it.

 

[seditary]

Wonder how this applies to under-15 professional players.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Korea's National Assembly unanimously passed a law on Wednesday that would limit the time that children under 15 could spend playing games online.

Holy Shit! If we had that law, Halo would have an AMAZING Community after hours!

Amazing, yes. Very few people, also yes. I just stoped FPS games online because I have been called a "fag" more times there than my real name in life.

OT: This seems silly to me. I do remember some legal precident from a case in the USA (Which I guess wouldn't apply) that states something to the nature of "Just because the interist of the children are at stake, the state cannot play the role of the parent"

 

[DocBalance]

Government intervention in day-to-day lives? Yaaaaaaaaaay!

That happens everywhere, and with everything. It's not really news. And personally I think the situation is justified, some people are insanely addicted to video games there. It literally takes over their lives.

I'm pretty sure this would apply to stuff like network cafes and stuff, it'll be a pretty much "ID on entry" kind of deal after midnight I guess.

I can't help but laugh when I hear sentences like this. We're so concerned about people losing their lives to videogames we don't even consider the alternatives, especially the plank-in-the-eye example that is the U.S.'s national obsession with sports(though other countries have this to lesser levels). I know people think sports are inherently great and healthy and fun, but sports have injured and killed more people than video games ever have.

 

[DocBalance]

Government intervention in day-to-day lives? Yaaaaaaaaaay!

That happens everywhere, and with everything. It's not really news. And personally I think the situation is justified, some people are insanely addicted to video games there. It literally takes over their lives.

I'm pretty sure this would apply to stuff like network cafes and stuff, it'll be a pretty much "ID on entry" kind of deal after midnight I guess.

I can't help but laugh when I hear sentences like this. We're so concerned about people losing their lives to videogames we don't even consider the alternatives, especially the plank-in-the-eye example that is the U.S.'s national obsession with sports(though other countries have this to lesser levels). I know people think sports are inherently great and healthy and fun, but sports have injured and killed more people than video games ever have.

I disagree. The benefits of playing sports out weigh the risks. It's not only physically healthy, but also socially, something crucial to youth. And even then, the "alternatives" are infinitely many solutions because it boils down to "anything else". Because to people living in Korea, even cocaine is less addictive than Starcraft.

If the country that considers Starcraft a national sport tells you, "Our youth have a problem, they play too much Starcraft", then there's a problem.

Benefits of Sports: Physical growth, socialization.
Cons of Sports: Physical Stunting, Superiority Complexes, possible death.

Benefits of Games(specifically RTS's): Mental Growth, especially in the area of multi-tasking and threat analysis, Socialization through online gaming(what the sport is based around), enhanced decision making.
Cons of Games: Physical Stagnation, higher risk of OCD, increased risk of disease.

All in all, I'd say they are at least comparable in risk vs. payoff. Sports are just more societally acceptable because they've been around longer and more people think they are fun to watch( or at least pretend they are because they don't want to be different)

The thing you have to remember: The whole country isn't saying this. The government is. By your logic: Government of the U.S. says we need to regulate games. Obviously, there's a problem. Government of Australia has denied an equivalent to an M-rating for years. Obviously, there's a problem with M-ratings. The Government of China denies the people's right to have more than one child. Obviously there's a problem with multi-child families.

 

[Android2137]

Midnight isnt actually that bad for a gaming curfew.

Though, i assume, because it is a curfew, Koreans are not going to be pleased.

What does that mean? That Koreans are somehow especially allergic to curfews?

I grew up in Korea, and while curfews and blackouts (as part of air raid drills) were commonplace, nobody complained much.

Well, if it's trying regulate what people do in the privacy of their own home (presumably with parental consent), then that's quite unreasonable.

Thankfully doesn't sound too feasible either.

Parental consent really isn't of any importance here. Even if you allow your 10 year old to smoke and drink, it's still illegal. And I do find it very reasonable, especially since Korea places a rather higher importance on education than us Westerners do (the lucky bastards).

Personally, I think that this is a great idea.

I agree with you, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the college students start protests over this. South Korea has a long history of public demonstrations.

 

[Jadak]

Good thing nobody every lies about their age on the internet.

And I can see it now, back alley gaming parlors where you have to know someone to get in.

People in government really need to study the formula....

prohibition of victimless activity + demand = black market

Fixed that for you