by Carter Braun ‘23

Last month, China banned the use of all video games played by citizens under 18 during weekdays and on the weekends minors are permitted only three hours or less of playing time. The reasoning behind this ban was to address the rise of addiction to video games in China where teens are spending more than an average of 11 hours per week on video games. 

As a teen in the United States who plays video games to interact with friends and family, share laughs, and spend my free time, this law would be tragic if it happened here. Fortunately, in the United States, we do not have to worry about a law like this getting passed, because it would be infringing upon our rights in a democracy. However, the ban in China has me thinking that there would be benefits if there were limits on how often and for how long teens in the United States played video games. Think about it: while the average male teen in the United States is playing an average of 8 hours and 27 minutes of video games each week according to a study done on digital wellness lab.org, teens in China are now being productive with their time and focusing on school work, exercising, and trying new things. A similar regulation in the United States would force American teens like me to stop staring at a screen and get up to make the world a better place. Instead of sitting in a dark room away from reality, kids would be putting more effort into their daily lives. Kids in China now will have a competitive advantage over U.S. adolescents and likely will grow smarter and more productive than the next generation of people in the United States.

So can the United States ban video games during the school week? The simple answer is, no. In 2011, the state of California attempted to regulate the sales of violent video games to people under 18. The case went to the Supreme Court, and it was decided that video games are protected by the First Amendment, more specifically free speech. However, this doesn’t mean nothing can be done.  Technologically, there are many different ways to put time limits on apps and games. With new gaming consoles being released every year, there are more and more restrictions that the creators could put on them. On the console XboxOne, there is a setting where a parent can set a limit on the amount of time played every day or every week that would reduce the amount of time their kid spends on the console, not just a certain game. If a parent wanted to implement their version of a “video game ban” they could certainly do so. It is up to American teens and their parents to regulate the amount of time spent on video games. Other countries such as China are addressing the real problem of video-game addiction, and teens in the United States could be left behind.