18m under age of 10 use internet in China

Jerry Jiang, a 9-year-old Shanghai primary school pupil, checks the rate of return on Yu'ebao, an online mutual fund. (Photo: Jiang Jun)

Well, if you are among one of the parents who are increasingly concerned with children's addiction to the internet, you are not alone.

Nearly a quarter of the internet users in China are under the age of 19, and those under the age of 10 exceeded 18 million among the 688 million overall web users in the country as of the end of last year, statistics from China Internet Network Information Center has shown.

The figures from another recent report released by China's internet giant Tencent may be much more staggering.

The report said more than half of children who first used the internet are under the age of five. Moreover, 90 percent of those under the age of 18 in China use the internet in their daily lives, and 95 percent of urban children are web users.

"For today's children, internet is like home; it's their way of life," Sun Hongyan, an expert on youth counseling said.

"They are living in the online world which becomes a part of them since the day they are born. We see some mothers breast-feed their children while using mobile phones. We also see parents give their children an iPad/iPhone to play with," Sun said.

"So it's becoming normal for children to start using internet at a younger age, and the internet is going to be a major force that will influence their lives."

However, there are risks for the young web users. Fraud, unhealthy content and cyber-bullying are three primary dangers, a survey on the protection of the children conducted by Tencent revealed. Among the three dangers, internet fraud accounted for 61 percent.

Besides, a latest figure released by China Youth & Children Research Center shows network infringement is quite common among Chinese high school students, with over 47 percent reporting theft of passwords, and 17 percent being cheated during online shopping.

The children's purpose of using the internet changes with their age. Those under eight often look for games and entertainment such as watching videos, and listening to stories; while senior primary school and middle school student use the web to play games and finish their homework, according the Tencent's report.

"The internet is a double-edged sword," Zhao Xia, a researcher with China Youth & Children Research Center, said.

"Parents worry that the internet affects their children's mental and physical health, and lower the social skills, etc, but the internet has also offered the kids new ways of learning, thinking, living and making friends. It's one of the important skills that they should acquire from a young age," Zhao said.

"Some parents think it would be safe if there was no internet access at home. But our survey has found the more the parents reject the internet, the more addictive their children would become," Sun Hongyang said.

Then there's the crucial question: how to provide safe internet to young users?

Sun advices that parents should be open-minded and get to know more about the internet themselves, lean from their children and grow with them.

A guidance conducted by Tencent and China Science Communication also suggests young Web users should not disclose personal information, should not trust any kind of "free lunches", no viewing of unhealthy contents, no opening of strange links and emails, and no meeting up with online friends alone.

"Online security should be part of the school course," Jiang Cheng, associate professor with Peking University, said.

Jiang added the courses should help the young people realize the dangers, and improve their security awareness.

Also the government should pitch in, said Xie Yongjiang, vice-director of Internet Governance and Law Research Center with Beijing University of Post & Telecommunication.

"The government should further regulate network operation, speed up the process of network legislation, improve legal supervision measures and eventually minimize the risks," Xie said.