How to prevent gaming addiction in children

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China’s recent move to limit the time children spend on online gaming has put the spotlight back on the long-running concern about how excessive gaming can impact the young. India has a booming online gaming market with around 350 million gamers, 60% of whom are under 25 years, and the pandemic has led to a massive growth of the gaming industry. Experts say addictive behaviour in gaming comes from other underlying concerns, such as loneliness, fear of rejection, or coping with social phobia. Should gaming companies take more ownership to improve awareness and restrict gaming hours for minors? Or should the onus be more on parents to impose gaming curfews? And what are the early signs to detect addictive behaviour? In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how to prevent gaming addiction in children. Presenter: Devina Gupta Contributors: Zerah Gonsalves, gamer, esports consultant; Dr Manoj Sharma, professor - clinical psychology, Nimhans; Rajan Navani, vice chairman and managing director, JetSynthesys