According to ifeng.com, an initiative has been launched in China to enable parents to supervise the computer games that their children play.
The first batch of six online game operators who have joined the initiative are Wanmei.com, Tencent, Shanda, Netease, Changyou, and Giant Interactive. It is reported that as initiators of the self-discipline program, the parties will arrange a special web page on their respective websites, provide a telephone number that parents can contact to consult about their children's online behavior, and customize programs to facilitate parental supervision of computer games played by children.
It is learned that parents can report their children's games accounts to the operators if they find their child is addicted to a game, and once the parents' report is verified, the operator will limit a child's access to the games or stop providing service to the child based according on the parents' request. Meanwhile, the operators will keep track of the account to make sure it is not used for playing other undesirable games.
It is understood that the scale China's online game market reached CNY25.8 billion in 2009, which was an increase of 39.5% over 2008. With the expansion of the computer games market, problems such as the network addiction have become prominent. The new initiative is expected to help effectively prevent Internet addiction among teenagers.
A statement from the Ministry of Culture speaks highly of the initiative.
