The Education Ministry on Friday issued an advisory to parents warning against the adverse impact of online gaming on the mental and physical health of children.
The Ministry said that online gaming has many downsides. Playing online games leads to a serious gaming addiction which has been considered a gaming disorder. The game is designed in a way that each level is more complicated and complex than the previous one. This causes a player to push themselves to the limit in order to progress in the game.
“Therefore, playing online games with no restriction and self-limits leads many players to become addicted and are eventually diagnosed with gaming disorder. The gaming companies also emotionally compel the child to buy more levels and almost force in-app purchases,” the Ministry highlighted in its advisory.
The ministry said it has recommended yjay in-game purchases should not be allowed without parental consent. To avoid in app purchases; OTP based payment methods may be adopted as per RBI’s guidelines, it said.
It also talked against avoiding credit/debit cards registration on apps for subscriptions. Place an upper limit on expenditure per transaction.
It further said do not let children buy directly from the laptop or mobile they use for gaming.
"Advise children not to download software and games from unknown websites. Tell them to be beware of clicking links, images, and pop-ups in the websites as they may contain a virus and harm the computer, and may contain age-inappropriate content," it said
It further mentioned that while playing online games, if something wrong happened, stop immediately and take a screenshot (using the “print screen” button on the keyboard) and report it.
It also advised the parents to play alongside their children to get a better sense of how they are handling their personal information and who they are communicating with.