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Parents worried over highly addictive PUBG game

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MUSCAT, Dec 22 - After the ‘terror’ that online games such as the Blue Whale, Choking Games and Cinnamon Challenge unleashed, it is the PUBG that is having parents worried again. Although PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battle Grounds), poses no threat to life unlike the first two games mentioned earlier, it is said to be very addictive. IT experts in the country have rung the alarm bells. They have asked parents to ensure children don’t get “hooked” to them.


Schools warn


“Unfortunately, many games created for children are not really meant for them. Parental supervision is the only way to save our kids,” said Tariq al Barwani, IT expert and founder of Knowledge Oman. PUBG is an online game in which players fight each other with weapons and the one surviving till the end is the winner. “What begins as a game that lasts for about 30 minutes keeps a player hooked for many hours, getting them addicted,” warn gaming experts.


“The game is slowly becoming popular among children. Parents should be cautious; they should keep tabs on the number of hours their child spends on the game.” Schools have warned children against addiction to online games. Some schools in the Sultanate plan to ask parents to impose restrictions on the number of hours their children spend on online games. “We have found that many children play online games for hours. We will send out a note to parents in this regard,” said the member of management committee of an expatriate school.


Hooked to chat


“Statistics show 60 per cent of kids and teenagers talk in chat rooms or chat online every day. Three out of four children are willing to give out information about themselves and their families to purchase/ request products and services, besides online games,” said a statement from the Information Technology Authority (ITA). “Oman’s National CERT has taken several initiatives to protect children on Internet. We have a National Strategy for Child Online Protection, which was initiated in cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),” it said. Experts have said children should not be allowed to get addicted to malicious games nor should kids be glued to electronic devices for long hours. They said the social media users should be fully aware of the proper use of these channels and how to protect themselves from being trapped online. A recent study revealed 34 per cent of 3-4-year-olds play games on a tablet device, while 38 per cent of parents are worried about kids playing online games.


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