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Aichi city plans to block children using smartphones after 9 p.m.

30 Comments

The local government of Kariya in Aichi Prefecture plans to an ambitious campaign to ban children’s use of smartphones and other mobile devices from 9 p.m., starting April 1.

The government is calling on parents to cooperate with the non-binding regulation which will apply to students in elementary and junior high schools in Kariya, TBS reported. Schools and PTAs will ask each parent to keep smartphones away from their children after 9 p.m. and make sure their children are not viewing harmful websites, where possible.

A spokesperson for the board of education in Kariya said the program is aimed at protecting children from getting into trouble or being bullied through free instant message apps such as LINE, for example.

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30 Comments
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Children in elementary don't need smart phones anyway.

13 ( +14 / -1 )

Another typical knee-jerk reaction to a problem here in Japan. I guess no child would consider doing any of the offending behaviors before the 9:00 pm deadline. Punish all for the sins of a few seems to be the norm in Japan instead of actual efforts to confront the real issues of bullying. Maybe they should go one step further and the schools should purchase and issue every student a smart phone and have the school staff be responsible for monitoring the content posted! Oh I forgot, they already have teachers using there free time monitoring chat rooms and message boards frequented by there students!

To really put a dent into the core issue requires educating parents firstly. If someone were to tell me to stop my child from doing something, that is legal of course, that is outside the walls of the school and after school hours I would tell them to mind their own business. That is the problem in Japan! Parents think it is NOT their responsibility to educate their own children in etiquette, morals and basic common sense! They think it's the responsibility of their school system! If you think I'm wrong, ask yourself why the government is making "morals" a school subject!! Simply put, because parents have failed at 'PARENTING'

11 ( +15 / -4 )

... I think the bigger question is, why aren't these kids in bed and asleep by 9pm?

Jr. High kids often don't finish juku until 9pm.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The key here it's "non-binding regulation" there for who cares?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Parents think it is NOT their responsibility to educate their own children in etiquette, morals and basic common sense!

I have noticed this, too. Instead of trying to blame 'evil technology' maybe they should be encouraging parents to make an effort to stop their children from being bullies or to support their children to not be influenced by bullies. LINE is not the problem, as much as the media seems to want to make us think it is.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Lol,

While the intentions are good....

You can not enforce it Kids dont need em in the first place While this advice is admiral, parents these days need a lot more advice on parenting
2 ( +2 / -0 )

First off, it's not legal. Second, these old codgers in office are once again targeting smart phones. If they wanted to address the problem of young people becoming more and more engulfed in technology they would ban television, cell phones in general (not just smart phones), game consoles (both hand-held and base), computers, and anything else under the sun. And no parent that isn't already concerned with this kind of thing is going to start strictly enforcing such a law.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Increasingly I see very young children walking down the street or on trains, totally mesmerized by their communications devices and blocking out everything else -- in other words, miniature versions of Japanese adults. It's sad and depressing to watch people all over the world being transformed into keitai zombies. I don't own one and have vowed I never will. They're an utter waste of money as well. In my view, DoCoMo, au and SoftBank are nothing but multibillion dollar drug pushers.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Kind of a misleading headline. The regional government isn't going to be "blocking" anything--they are going to ask parents to keep Internet-connected devices out of the hands of their children after 9 p.m. (Which itself seems both arbitrary and pointless--kids can get in as much trouble using those devices during the day as they can after 9 p.m.)

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I guess no child would consider doing any of the offending behaviors before the 9:00 pm deadline

They're all still at juku, learning to be gamanzuyoi drones.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

don't think people start abusing others only after 9pm. sounds like another idiotic and a bit stupidly fascistic "brilliant" idea.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If the government said the people do!, except the government, and the people...more hot air with no result.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Very ambitious campaign , and yes i agree with you people .Children in elementary don't need smart phones anyway.****

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh, a government's natural instinct for more control at the slightest excuse strikes again.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So the city bureaucrats decide what parents should do....now we're really in trouble

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Excellent idea.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

After 9pm? So bullying only happens after 9pm on smart phones? This is a seriously weak effort to stop a bully problem.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A kid I was teaching had the best mobile phone. It only had one button and all it could call was the mother's cellphone. These phones should be the only choice for kids under a certain age. Why on earth would an elementary kid need a smartphone? What do they have to text their friends about at 10 pm at night?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

good move!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mr. Perfect

I think that you are completely right!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Galapagos: "They're an utter waste of money as well. In my view, DoCoMo, au and SoftBank are nothing but multibillion dollar drug pushers."

Another of the sheep who want to put a bandaid on a bullet-hole. So, is the kid I saw this morning riding his bike while playing on his PSP exempt from your judgement because he has no contract with the companies you mention? How about the woman staring at her bank book walking out of the bank and running into someone because she's not paying attention?

What Aichi and all prefectures need to do is promote safety and hold discussions about the affects of technology on young people, not try to ban kids from using products that the cities profit from in terms of sales and economic spending.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So, hold on. Is this a campaign or a regulation? Because the former might be a swell idea in the right hands, while the latter is pretty much grandiose, delusional overreach.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mama、help this strange man has taken me captive. "this automated message informs you that children should make phone calls after 9 0'clock, have a nice day"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Rules without relationship lead to rebellion."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There's plenty of bullying going on at school, such as the sempai/kohai system, that the teachers here let slide or actively encourage. Attacking smartphone use is like thinking a runny nose is the cause of a cold.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

So, according to some people here, parents are too irresponsible to teach their kids how to be decent people, yet when the local government steps in with a guideline to light a fire under said parents' collective arses, they're also ridiculed. Hey, at least they're trying something. It's not enforceable (which I think is a good thing); it's not harmful to anyone; and it may just encourage some kids to put their phones down for a while and let their brain relax. God knows it's what a lot of these kids need, but most of all, they need attention from their parents - perhaps even the amount of attention required to say, "OK Son, it's 9 o'clock. Hand it over," is enough. With any luck, parents will be motivated by it to create their own rules.

But who am I kidding? People don't learn how to be good parents from government agencies, media, etc.

As far as I can tell, good parenting is hereditary, and that's it.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

... I think the bigger question is, why aren't these kids in bed and asleep by 9pm? My bed time was 8pm when I was an elementary schooler and was upgraded to 10pm when I was about Junior High age.

I think the real problem here is that Japanese kids aren't sleeping. ... but Aichi wouldn't do anything sensible like saying that kids should be in bed and asleep by 9pm? Nope, clearly smartphones are the problem here.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

StrangerlandMar. 23, 2014 - 09:52AM JST

... I think the bigger question is, why aren't these kids in bed and asleep by 9pm?

Jr. High kids often don't finish juku until 9pm.

That was what I was getting at. They finish classes at about 4pm, followed by club until 7pm, followed by cram school until 9pm, then home for supper, then homework until about midnight, then snatch perhaps 6 of hours sleep and then up at 6am to get school.

Most ADULTS can't function on 6 hours sleep. We get irritable, we make mistakes, we can't remember stuff. Kids need a lot more sleep than adults (about 10 hours a night). Japan is not a magical land where the rules of human physiology are suspended. Kids NEED sleep.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

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