A 17-year-old Kagawa teen is crowdfunding a lawsuit against local government guidelines which call for children playing video games to be limited to a maximum of one-hour playtime on weekdays.
In addition to crowdfunding the legal battle, the teen, identified only by his first name Wataru, is receiving help from his mother and a lawyer.
The local ordinance was passed by the Kagawa Prefectural Assembly. It also seeks to limit children’s gaming time to 90 minutes on weekends and holidays, and outlines guidance for cell phone usage.
The ordinance also suggests children in junior high school and younger should not use their cell phones after 9pm and that older children’s cut-off time should be 10pm, according to The Japan Times.
While some have expressed support of the efforts to curb excessive internet usage and gaming, others are criticizing it. Kyodo News reports Taro Yamada, a House of Councilors member described the ordinance as “nonsense.” He says it fails to account for how essential digital devices are in children’s everyday lives by only focusing on usage time.
Wataru and his lawyer say the rules limit individuals’ and families’ freedoms.
According to the International Business Times, Wataru told AFP, “How long children are allowed to play games or use a smartphone should be rules set by each family, not by the government.”
The Japan Times reports the education board of Odate, located in the prefecture of Akita, has plans to adopt a similar ordinance to reduce video game addiction.
The World Health Organization officially recognized video game addiction as a disorder last year. The criteria for a positive diagnosis, however, as NPR reported, is more concerned with a person’s inability to stop playing video games than it is with how much time a person spends gaming.
