New Taiwanese law requires parents to limit kids' mobile device time

A lot of parents are worried about their children spending too much in front of the phone or tablet. Parents in Taiwan now have to do something about it.

Lawmakers have expanded existing legislation to say that children under 18 on the island “may not constantly use electronic products for a period of time that is not reasonable.” The law now equates spending excess time on electronic devices with other more commonly-accepted vices, such as smoking, drinking, drugs, watching sexual or violent imagery, and chewing betel nuts.

Parents who expose their kids to electronic products to the point where become “physically or mentally” ill are liable for a $1,600 fine. Of course, the law doesn’t say exactly how much time is unreasonable, which will no doubt complicate enforcement.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, which recommends a maximum of two hours a day of screen time for kids, found in a recent study that US eight-year-olds spend an average of eight hours with some form of media—and many child-development psychologists urge more unstructured play time. In addition, there is another factor not covered in this law, which is the damage done to children from the fact that their parents are themselves always connected.