Kids Spending Too Much Time On Their Phones? Taiwan’s New Regulation Could Impose A Fine

How often have we gone out and see tables where there are families seated, but no one is talking to one another and everyone is either playing with their phone or their tablet. Or maybe you even do that yourselves, which is admittedly rather anti-social behavior. Granted it is something of a social faux pas, but over in Taiwan you could actually be fined for it.

According to a report from Taiwan’s ETTV (via Kotaku), Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (basically the country’s version of Congress) approved new regulations that would fine the parents of children under 18 who have been found to spend too much time on electronic devices, with the heaviest fine set around $1,600.

The regulation came into play thanks to healthcare experts who believe that youngsters should have limits imposed on them when it came to using such devices. So how long is “too long”? Well according to the regulations, those aged from 2-18 should not be using electronics for more than 30 minutes per session, although how exactly will this be enforced remains to be seen.

So far the citizens of Taiwan do not appear to be a fan of the new regulation simply because it would be impossible to enforce, not to mention it violates personal privacy. However some are for it, like a doctor who believed that there will be an increase in patients with vision problems in the future due to the amount of time we spend looking at our screens. It’s an interesting albeit radical idea, but what do you guys think?

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Legal