The stand-off began when the father confiscated the boy’s mobile phone. - SCREENGRAB FROM WEIBO.CN
BEIIJING (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A video of a boy, who threatened his father with a meat cleaver for banning him to play video games on his mobile phone, has gone viral in China.
The South China Morning Post reported that the stand-off began when the father confiscated the boy’s mobile phone.
The boy became angry and grabbed the cleaver to threaten his father.
In the 13-second video, the boy was heard shouting: “Give it to me”.
The boy is believed to be a primary school pupil as he was wearing a red scarf that all Chinese primary school kids are required to wear. The incident reportedly occurred after school started following the winter break.
The video was filmed on Feb 10 by an unidentified person in the southern Chinese autonomous region of Guangxi. The person told Henan TV that the two individuals involved were father and son.
The video soon made its way to Chinese social media giant Weibo’s most-searched list after it was reported by Henan TV. The video has since been viewed by more than seven million people.
Some netizens expressed concerns after watching the video. One netizen who was not identified said: “Kids are increasingly addicted to games, and sooner or later, their families will suffer if they become too spoiled”.
Mobile game addiction among children is not a new phenomenon in China. The phenomenon sparks social debate every winter and summer break.
Many gaming companies have introduced rules prohibiting minors from playing games for too long and require each player to upload their identity card and undergo a facial recognition verification to prove their age.
For example, China’s largest producer of mobile games, Tencent Games, made it a rule that minors can only play games produced by Tencent from 8pm to 9pm on a designated 14-day period during the most recent winter break.
However, the measures are not sufficient. Minors can simply use their parents’ phones and bypass the restrictions.
