Pupils as Young as 7 Hooked on Online Games as Expert Warns of Alarming Trend

Young children in Hong Kong are seeking addiction counselling for online gaming, with a recent workshop informed of referrals for pupils as young as seven years old. Experts noted an alarming trend involving increasingly younger children requiring assistance.

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Crystal Leung Chui yee, officer in charge of the Sunshine Lutheran Centre, a counselling and treatment organisation for individuals with gambling problems, disclosed these details at a recent workshop. The event, organised by Young Post and the South China Morning Post's student business, SCMP Learn, was attended by approximately 70 parents. According to the South China Morning Post, Ms Leung, a counselling psychologist, described a specific case involving a seven year old Primary Two pupil who was referred due to a severe addiction to virtual subcultures and pay to win games.

And, by the time the child reached the centre, it was discovered that he had acquired nearly USD 1,020 in cash from his mother and subsequently used her credit card without permission. Ms Leung described this amount as a significant sum for a seven year old, signalling a dangerous boundary crossed in the child's behaviour.

Ms Leung suggested that randomised gaming loot boxes could serve as an early form of conditioning for adult gambling addictions. She explained that when children can obtain items with a single click, it establishes a cognitive shortcut within their developing brains.

But, the human brain reportedly retains the memory of instant gratification and the dopamine received from employing such shortcuts. Modern online games were also noted to entice players with limited time discounts to encourage draws for rare weapons or characters.

Ms Leung defined the "shortcut" in these instances as spending money. She stated that once a child pays and obtains a rare item, the sense of triumph is immense, and that consistently providing a developing mind with these quick dopamine hits easily fosters a gambling mindset. Whether children purchased virtual skins, engaged with mobile games, or used physical pinball machines, the underlying psychological mechanisms were identical, she asserted. The system is specifically engineered to condition children to a speculative mindset from an early age.

So, Ms Leung advised parents to disconnect their credit cards from devices used by children. She also urged parents to engage with their children's digital subcultures as curious learners rather than acting as wardens. She further noted that understanding children's inner emotional needs is considerably more effective than imposing strict containment.

Parents attending the workshop also expressed their concerns regarding the potential pitfalls of artificial intelligence and contemporary screen time. A poll conducted before the workshop, involving over 100 parents, revealed that 65 per cent lacked the confidence to adequately explain artificial intelligence to their children.

The same survey indicated that 80 per cent of parents worried about misleading online information, while 36 per cent recognised the risk of their children encountering illegal gambling sites. Many attendees voiced fears that their children might become vulnerable to various online risks, including algorithmic rabbit holes, in game purchases, and illegal gambling traps. The session highlighted how mainstream artificial intelligence platforms and recommendation algorithms could exacerbate these risks.

And, chatbots, for instance, might be inadvertently prompted by curious teenagers to generate workaround links leading to black market streaming sites and offshore betting syndicates. For one parent, Annie Wong, the workshop dispelled a prior sense of security. She had previously believed she had no reason for concern because she did not permit her daughter independent use of a phone.

Ms Wong recounted a recent incident where her daughter played a mobile game on her mother in law's smartphone and unintentionally authorised a recurring monthly subscription through an unclear pop up advertisement. This incident prompted Ms Wong to abandon passive restrictions, instead choosing to actively play along with her daughter and introduce compelling offline hobbies. She explained that it is about ensuring her daughter finds the real world appealing, thereby reducing her reliance on the internet for feelings of achievement or recognition.

Keith Cheung, aged 40 and a father of two teenagers, commented that the session provided a useful roadmap. His principal takeaway was learning how to better use the positive aspects of artificial intelligence to support his children's learning and development. He also focused on paying attention to ethical considerations he might have previously overlooked, in order to be better prepared.

But, to guide his children away from online risks, Mr Cheung advocated for active co viewing. He suggested that parents should watch content with their children at the outset, guiding them towards beneficial and engaging websites or YouTube material. This approach, he concluded, would significantly reduce their exposure to undesirable content.

• Pupils as young as seven years old are being referred for online gaming addiction counselling in Hong Kong.

• A seven year old Primary Two pupil appropriated approximately USD 1,020 from his mother for pay to win virtual games.

• Counselling psychologist Crystal Leung Chui yee suggests that gaming loot boxes may condition children for later gambling addictions.

• Parents are concerned about artificial intelligence pitfalls, misleading online information, and illegal gambling risks.

• Active parental engagement and co viewing of digital content are suggested methods to mitigate online dangers for children.

Source: SCMP