The negative impacts of online games on the behaviour of pupils were topics that elicited focused inquiry from deputies questioning the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Opening a question-and-answer session with the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh, Deputy Nguyen Phu Dong from Bac Ninh Province raised the urgent issue of moral standards and degradation among various groups within the community. He illustrated his concerns with a series of video clips of schoolgirls fighting and some inhumane cases of murder.
The Minister expressed his belief that the results of global integration include both positive and negative effects on Vietnamese society. In addition, he said regulations on education and punishment for misbehavior are not strict enough to resolve the issue.
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| Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Dao raising a question (Photo by Viet Hung) |
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan stated that violence in schools has been found to “imitate” that found in online games. “According to our investigation, 77% of existing games include fighting and murder, 9% are gambling games and only 14% contain wholesome content,” he added.
Nhan also revealed that 67% of primary pupils play games, and that the percentage in secondary schools and universities is 81% and 75% respectively. He declared, “This is the factor causing the trend toward violence.”
Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop addressed the problem of game management. He shared that the Ministry has launched a strategy for better managing game players and content while increasing administrative penalties to deter violators. Furthermore, the Ministry has also ordered the release of more Vietnamese games with inoffensive content as soon as possible.
However, Hop also acknowledged some difficulties in managing the issue. One of them is monitoring players. “It’s easy to check residents’ personal information in foreign countries because people always carry identification with them. But over 70% of Vietnamese people are not in the habit of taking their ID cards with them,” he explained.
Regarding the shortage of play areas for children and young people, Deputy Nguyen Ngoc Huyen from Phu Tho Province questioned the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism as to why his ministry has not yet finished a proposal on designating new entertainment areas for children, despite the fact that the Prime Minister called on them to do so, and requested to know when the proposal would be complete.
The Minister responded that his ministry has started laying out regulations, but urged others to recognise that planning is a demanding process. His ministry cannot execute the task alone, he concluded.