facebook rss twitter

Chinese Unies ban computers to fight online gaming addiction

by Nick Haywood on 12 October 2007, 08:43

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaj25

Add to My Vault: x

It's all work and no play...

According to China.org.cn, several Chinese universities are the taking the radical step of banning computers for first year students, including those taking computer science courses!

The move comes as universities try to tackle what they see as a growing problem in students spending more and more time in MMOs than at lectures or studying.

"At Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Hubei Province, no freshmen including, those who major in computer science, are allowed to own computers. The school shut down the freshmen dormitory network, and, freshmen are not allowed to log onto the Internet without permission.

China is home to 30 million online gamers, many of them college students. Addiction to online games has been found to affect undergraduates' ability to learn, causing headaches for many schools."

Read more over at China.org.cn and be sure to tell us what you think.



HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
Posted by deleted - Fri 12 Oct 2007 08:48
That is utter madness. I guess skilled programmers are not something they plan to export in the future.
Posted by deleted - Fri 12 Oct 2007 09:00
Seems crazy! Why not just give them computers that are so dire they have no hope of playing any of the games.

Heck, there's a Dell factory around that neck of the woods they could use :P
Posted by deleted - Fri 12 Oct 2007 12:10
I'm not sure I understand what's wrong with this.

The article only mentions that they are banned from owning their own computers and connecting them to the uni network (particularly in halls).

Presumably there would still be access to some kind of lab machines, which would allow them to do anything course related…

I know uni's are a bit different, but most work networks wouldn't allow you to hook up your own computers, I don't see how this is significantly different.
Posted by deleted - Fri 12 Oct 2007 13:24
Deleted
I'm not sure I understand what's wrong with this.

The article only mentions that they are banned from owning their own computers and connecting them to the uni network (particularly in halls).

Presumably there would still be access to some kind of lab machines, which would allow them to do anything course related…

I've highlighted the key words. If the students are banned from owning their own computers, it means their restricted to using the computers in the uiversity.
When I was in university (about 8 years ago), the computer workshops were nearly always booked for lessons and the one computer room which was supposed to be for common use (i.e. not a room that lessons were held in) was always full, and then in my final year this got worse as they started holding lessons in that room as well.

If the students are restricted to these computers, I can't see many getting through their coursework.
Posted by deleted - Fri 12 Oct 2007 13:31
Chinese government trying to fight game addiction is good (better than UK government trying to fight game related violence..which is totally off the mark)

But Chinese government's way of fighting this is just so so typical of them. So ignorant

SEE NEWER »