BY: SOO BEE KUN

Not just in Malaysia, but in a growing number of countries around the world calls are being made to restrict or limit the use of online content from the Internet to those under the age of 16 to which many parents, guardians and teachers agree.

Why is this considered necessary? The downloading of video games are beginning to addict and enslave children to their mobile phones and causing their lives to veer out of control at a very young age.

While for leisure and pleasure, and for some entertainment, children should be given the time and space to play online games, as long as it does not affect their lives, or cause them to neglect their responsibilities and duties as a student and in the family.

Gaming activities for children are beginning to witness a growing number of them having to be counselled or to seek the help of psychologists to overcome disorders such as being obsessive compulsive or a feeling of losing control of their lives.

Children should just be children. They should go kick a ball, play tennis and badminton as their favoured racquet games or just be in touch with nature by going on treks in the great outdoors with family, relatives and friends

Instead of being glued to their joy sticks and ending up as couch potatoes, they must be up and about studying, going for tutorials or swimming and piano lessons and taking an interest in what is happening all over the world.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher