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Thailand Imposes Gamers Curfew
bg writes "How addicted can you be? According to this article, Thailand will install a curfew to "protect" their childern from the addiction from Gaming. "Game servers, both local and overseas, will be blocked from 10.00pm to 6.00am daily from July 15 to Sept 30, while Internet cafes will also have their hours curbed to those times". Under particular attack is Korean role-playing game Ragnarok, which was introduced to Thailand seven months ago."
Once again I bring you this service announcement:
Parents, watch your kids. Don't make the government do it for you, you won't like it.
This is not specific to Thailand either.
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I'd like to see how the plan to do this from a technical stand point. Blocking some well know servers shouldn't be all that hard. But blocking all gaming trafic.... I see this plan failing hard and fast.
Technology, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
What a bunch of fools. The article implies that most of the gaming is taking place in cafes, so these measures might actually have a chance of succeeding, but is that really a good thing? It's better to learn the dangers of MMORPG addiction when you're 12 than when you're 20.
Besides, I can't imagine that the number of "addicted" players is anything like what they're making it out to be.
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Growing up, I grappled with a gaming addiction
Then you are mentally weak and you got what you deserved. The rest of us shouldn't have to suffer for your inabilities. I'm so fuckin sick and tired of the government stepping in whenever another weak or sick person has a little problem. I have tons of problems each year, but you don't see me crying to the government. Why not take a little personal responsibility for yourself??? Oh I seem to have forgotten, personal responsibility is an endangered species.
Do you ever know where such parental censorship has worked? I can name several where govt. censorhip has worked / is working well for all concerned. Pakistan, for instance, is developing a free porn-blocking s/w at the govt. level.
OK, good... now name one that's actually a good idea and has worked. What if I lived in Pakistan and wasn't a Muslim (or Buddist, or whatever) and WANTED to look at porn, but couldn't because the government regulated my internet traffic?
Never trust monopolists and capitalists to work for the good of you or your kids.The only values they understand are dollars and share-prices.
And NEVER trust the government, because they're the only group that can legally kill you and everyone you ever met "for the common good". I'd rather trust people concerned with money than people that could kill me for not trusting them... and get away with it. At least I agree that money is good. I definitely don't agree with killing me.
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
I totally agree with you. How about the poor adult shmucks who work evenings and can only play at night? Penalize everyone for the sake of the kids. It should be the parents' responsibility to enforce this, not the government (except maybe having the internet cafes not admit anyone under the age of 18 between those hours). Where are the parents while this is happening? Why arent they watching what their kids are doing?
It's better to burn out than to fade away
Now kids can go back out on the street and get mugged, do drugs and get trashed at parties! Just what every "normal" kid should be doing. If my kid has a tendancy to get addicted to things then I want him doing drugs and alchohol, not evil video games!
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who's talking about around the clock gaming?(well, you are :)
What if you don't have a 9-to-5 job but a 2(pm)-to-10(pm) job? All work and no play make Homer go something something....
Nobody believes the official spokesman, but everybody trusts an unidentified source. -- Ron Nesen
I have to get the kids to sleep first!
I will probably get flamed for this, but I think this is a positive thing.
You're right. This is Flame Number One.
Growing up, I grappled with a gaming addiction. Going to school on three hours of sleep is not good for your education (despite what some articles might have you believe). In a perfect world, parents would be preventing their children from overloading on games. In reality, in these days of dual incomes and extracurricular activities, they aren't always able to, and it's a good thing that the government can step in and lend a hand.
I remember one time, back in the early 90's, I was playing too many video games and not doing my homework. I was still getting pretty good grades, mostly B's, but not the A's I was capable of. I was living only with my father, at the time, so there really wasn't anybody around for several hours a day to watch me (I was 12-13 at the time). My punishment was very limited video game access for 6 months, or until my grades improved. You know how my father accomplished that? He took my Super Nintendo to his workplace, put it in a box, and stuck it under his desk. It could have been in the car, at one of his friends' houses, or any number of a million other places. Was my father "special", or "lucky", or a "more talented" parent, or simply "more intelligent" than your parents? Probably. Maybe the easiest solution is for parents to be parents.
The alternative is medication (which is how I kicked the video game habit before I became the next Columbine), and that will just be more expensive to everyone in the long term.
Great idea. Let's just drug our children. After all, 6% of the children in this country actually have ADD, yet 17% (or more) are on Ritalin. We obviously need more drugs. While I'm on the subject, maybe you don't watch enough TV (because of your work schedule and all), but perhaps you've seen the commercials that try to drug all the adults now too? They're paid for by the company that produces Ritalin.
Curfews are cheap and effective.
What's cheap about it? Paying the government employees their union-decided wages to work minimal hours on doing the least-possible work? What's effective about a curfew? I was out all the time when I was a kid after the 10pm curfew that we had in our town. I walked past the police department at 2am, including officers and patrol cars (and I didn't look over the age of 12), and never once got taken home, or fined, or anything.
Another good approach might be to put a lower age limit on the use of Windows.
I'm not sticking up for Microsoft, but putting an age limit on software is insane. If my 3 year-old is intelligent enough to play Final Fantasy X, then damnit, he/she will play Final Fantasy X. Who's going to regulate and enforce that age? Microsoft? Then they'll be collecting more personal information about you, which I'm sure you'll love. The government? Oh wonderful. Another Total Information Awareness Act. Great idea.
You need to think out your arguments before you post... seriously. If your parents didn't want you playing games, they shouldn't have purchased the console for you. If you only had 3 hours of sleep every night, eventually, you'll fall over and sleep. It seems like it took you quite a few years, but you're mentally asleep now. Mission accomplished.
"It's better to have a gun and not need it than need a gun and not have it." ~ Christian Slater, True Romance
And how would this curfew not "protect" adults in the same way? In fact, shouldn't kids be in bed by this time anyway, so won't this almost exclusively affect adults? It sounds like banning beer because a few minors get drunk.
On matters like censorship, I generally agree with you - because kids might see something at a friend's house, school etc, when you're not present to see what they are up to.
But the simple act of not letting them play PC games after 10pm is another thing entirely. Thats as simple as not putting the machine in their bedroom.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Because parents feel that they cannot simply order their children to stay away from the arcades, they put their trust in the laws of the land to prevent their children from what is seen as an unproductive, unhealthy activity.
Well here in Canada (and the US) parents don't feel they can simply order their children around either. But rather then expect law enforcement to do anything about it, they whine and bitch about freedom and rights.
Then schools and law enforcement try to cover the gap left by bad parenting, constantly overstepping reasonable bounds and cause more trouble. (I actually had a principal that gloated about how he was more powerful then a court, he didn't even need evidence to punish students)
Bad parenting exists everywhere, you have busy hardworking overworked parents, lazy parents, non existant parents.
Making laws to compensate isn't going to help, we need parents to get back to work.
(No, I'm not a parent. Yes I know it's hard, which is why I'm not a parent yet, I'm not ready.)
Welcome to lifestyles of the Rich and Famous "The Authoritarian Edition".
I really suppose you have a kid (I do, and can state my personal thoughts on this matter). There's very little chance of parental censorhip succeeding with kids - why? Bcos kids are kids, that's all. This is a matter where Western and Eastern thinking differs a lot - the value of state censorship.
I do have a kid, two in fact. And you can bet your dictator trodden ass that I MUCH prefer setting the limits for my children, than having my government do it for me. Where the system breaks down, is with poor parenting - NOT "kids being kids". Basically all you are saying to the world is, "I can't manage my own life - please mister government man can you take care of that for me?" Well I say, "FUCK THAT!"
And in regards to you other idiotic statements...
Western societies are generally more tolerant - lax, according to the Earterners, and are driven by capitalism. They tend to focus on rights, rather than duties. This could explain the recent orders permitting gays and lesbians, as well as the inaction on spam.
Yes, I suppose thats why most of the spam I receive come from relays in China, Indonesia, Thialand, etc... I will grant you that it is mostly Westerners using these open relays - but if these governments are so on the ball and looking out for their citizens seems to me this wouldn't be an issue. But hey, I live in one of the states with real anti-spam laws. You've got me totally baffled on the gay rights equates to spam thing though...
Earterners generally focus on duties, role models, censorship and even punbishment for acts considered normal in the West. The internet brigs out this dichotomy bcos it's an open network. Thus govt. censorship is a preferred and better solution in Eastern societies - Thailand being one.
You stick with your authoritarian view. Because really - your governement knows what is best for you and your ilk. "The value of state censorship"... yeah, you hang onto that it'll be worth a lot one day...
I usually don't add quotes to my posts. And god knows I'll catch major shit for posting an Ayn Rand one...
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You might tell me that computer games aren't damaging--hell we've all been playing them for years, and they made us who we are today. But the kids in Pornvakia say the same thing about porn.
We all accept (well, sort of) those limitations the government put on us because we grew up with them, and it's just the way it is. Anyway, I know I wouldn't like to be told not to play computer games. But I don't think this is much different from what is accepted in other countries.
The alternative is medication (which is how I kicked the video game habit before I became the next Columbine)
You know, I pretty much grew up on games. Heck, I still have my gaming addiction. I'm almost 33 now, and I haven't shot anyone. In fact, I don't even consider violence to be a solution to anything.
I also have a well paid job as a programmer. Somehow gaming didn't interfere with that education after all. (In fact, it was what got me interested in programming in the first place. And my father fully cooperated there, so by the time I was 14 I was already fluent in Z80 assembly.)
No medication was necessary, either. Go figure.
My father did insist though that I go to bed at 9 PM, no matter what. Maybe that's why I didn't go to school on 3 hours sleep.
If your parents just put you on drugs instead, well, no offense to you, but I hope your parents do take offense. Because they're retards. They're a prime example of what's wrong with society today, and what's the _real_ cause of stuff like Columbine happening.
The real problem is: people who don't want to deal with their kids. In some situations even to talk to them. They're so busy making a career and working 12 hour geek shifts to impress the PHB, that poor kids get at most 5 minutes a day of speaking to their parents.
And when said kids have a problem, the parent takes the easy way out. Just put the kid on drugs or insist that the government take care of that problem. Hey, it's easier than talking to the kid, right?
A lot of blowing stuff out of proportion is based on that lack of communication too. It's easier to make blanket statements about games, than to talk to the kid and find out exactly what games does he play.
It's downright retarded to put for example FPS gaming in the same pot as, for example, puzzle games. You tell me how some kid growing on logic games is going to be the next serial killer. No, really. I'm all ears. He's going to get the idea of shooting people with a shotgun... from a game which doesn't even have shotguns anywhere?
Yet people will still make these blanket statements anyway and expect the government to do their work for them. It's easier than actually talking to their children. Or than, you know, actually trying to influence the kid's choice of games.
So here's an idea: if you're going to put your carreer in first place, and the kids only in 10'th place (after watching football, beer, watching news, and everything else) on your list of priorities... you shouldn't have kids in the first place. Wear a condom. They're cheap. Or take a pill. Have an abortion. Whatever.
But don't just bring a poor kid into this world and then treat it like it's some unwanted rat in the basement.
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