Early access to the internet has pros and cons

AMONG THE 688 MILLION internet users in the country as of the end of last year, nearly one-fourth are under the age of 19, and those under the age of 10 exceeded 18 million, according to statistics from China Internet Network Information Center. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Saturday:

It is becoming common that teenagers, even preschool children, are adept at using electronic devices and internetbased services. In one way or another, the internet is already a part of life. Another recent report released by China’s internet giant Tencent said more than half of children who use the internet are under the age of five.

Electronic devices have become daily necessities of many these days, and using internet-related services is now a professional skill that one has to master in most professions. It is unreasonable and unachievable to prevent teenagers from accessing the internet.

However, many web-addicted youngsters are damaging their eyesight, physical health, and their desire to learn in school. Spending too much time online may also weaken their ability to interact with people in real life.

Moreover, minors are exposed to violent, pornographic and crime-related content, which, to some extent, has contributed to the rise of juvenile crimes in recent years.

So parents do have reasons to worry that their children using the internet at a young age. But there are certain things they can do to reduce the negative effects of the internet.

For starters, parents should adopt an objective perception of young web users, instead of banning them internet or totally ignoring what they do in the cyberspace. They need to make sure their children’s use of the internet is supervised.

On their part, Chinese schools should learn from their counterparts in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States and teach students the importance of cyber security, and how to avoid divulging personal information on the internet. A rating system for online content should also be introduced.