Back in 2007, China developed a program to combat online game addiction, focusing specifically on minors. Looks like their efforts have paid off, too, as a study conducted in 2008 revealed.
The number of online gamers under the age of 18 in China decreased by 15 percent, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the China Youth Social Service Center. That's a 7 percent decline from 2007, during which 183 million were considered "addicted."
This is all thanks to preventative measures taken by the Chinese government. Their 2007 anti-addiction campaign required all game operators in China to participate by discouraging minors from spending more than three hours online each day. Since this campaign came into play, online gamers have been required to register using their real names and I.D. card numbers so their true age can be determined. This monitoring system targets minors by canceling half their earned "credits" if they remain logged in for more than three hours a day; stay online for five hours, and the minor loses all of his or her credits.
Government administrators are still trying to implement an effective way of authenticating real names in online games.
The survey previously mentioned also showed that 60 percent of "youngsters" are satisfied with this system. Why am I not surprised?
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