Go Tokyo Your Experience
With the popularity of smartphones in society, the age at which people first own a phone is gradually decreasing. In order to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content, excessive use of mobile phones, or engaging in consumption behavior in games, major mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS provide features such as “parental monitoring” and “shared groups”. These features help parents monitor their children’s phone usage habits and can remotely restrict or delete specific applications.
However, for children, may this feeling of being restricted have a negative impact on education? Next, let’s explore the heated discussion among netizens about a Japanese third year student who discovered one day that his mobile application had been completely deleted by his parents.
Wait, my applications have been deleted one after another
This Japanese X platform netizen nicknamed “PANDA” posted that all applications on their phones are gradually being uninstalled by their parents, including commonly used ones such as Google and Yahoo LINE, Instagram, X, YouTube, Spotify, as well as gaming and manga apps such as Cat Wars, Professional Baseball Souls, Pok é mon GO, Piccoma, JUMP+, etc.
PANDA was very helpless about this experience, as all of his smartphones, from social apps, games to comic applications, were deleted.
This incident immediately attracted widespread attention from netizens. Although “PANDA” claims to be a 14-year-old junior high school student, many netizens understand the parents’ intention of restricting their children from playing with their phones as they are about to prepare for the entrance exam.
However, this parent did not simply limit the usage time, but directly deleted the application, which has led many to question whether this behavior is too extreme.
Some reactions from Japanese netizens are as follows:
So the parental monitoring function can still delete apps like this (́ ^ ω ^)
This is too much. Parents may be doing it for the good of their children, but it will only backfire… After all, games and socializing can also become motivation for learning
The things taken from children’s hands will make them more concerned, which is more likely to make them addicted
Restricting time is understandable, but deleting it directly is a big taboo
As the discussion deepened, “PANDA” finally appeared to explain the events:
My account has finally been unlocked. Now let’s talk about the cause and effect of the situation. First of all, I learned that taking a 5-minute break every 25 minutes of studying works very well, so I used a timed app called Forest. However, they mistakenly thought I was playing a game while studying because the app displayed a virtual tree after the countdown ended. They concluded that it was a game app and deleted my app out of anger
This explanation adds a layer of misunderstanding to the event. Many parents may lack understanding of certain technological tools, leading to such extreme measures.
What management methods have parents adopted when facing their children’s habits of using mobile phones? How to maintain a balance between protection and freedom in the process of educating children is a thought-provoking issue.
I hope that by considering the actual needs and psychological development of children, parents and children can work together to find mutually acceptable solutions and avoid the negative effects that may arise from excessive behavior.