Being a parent has suddenly become a lot more stressful. At least it has if you live in Taiwan.
Lawmakers in the country have outlawed iPads and other electronic gadgets for children under the age of two, and demanded that those under the age of 18 do not use digital media for “a period of time that is not reasonable.”
Parents who fail to comply with the new “Child and Youth Welfare Protection Act” — or rather, fail to enforce it upon their children — may be fined 50,000 Taiwan dollars ($1,576).
Now, as much as I dislike the excesses of bloated, interfering governments, I couldn’t help but emit a yelp of joy when I read of these developments in Taiwan (which follow similar measures in China and South Korea).
Of course, there are obvious difficulties with the legislation. For a start, it fails to define a “reasonable” length of time, leaving its application open to interpretation and abuse.
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Moreover — and this is the important point — the extent to which the guidelines are being smashed is massive.
Most children in developing countries are consuming double, triple, or even quadruple the accepted healthy level of screen-time. Even the most educational app is unlikely to make a meaningful difference to that.
There’s no point in sugaring the pill. If kids aren’t encouraged to unplug, they are likely to turn into some rather unhappy adults.
This isn’t something I say very often, but hurrah for the Taiwanese nanny state.
