Debate on an Age Limit of Computer Usage QUESTION: Children spend far too much time in front of a computer and not enough time playing sports. This is resulting in a generation of unhealthy people. Therefore, children should not be allowed to use computers until the age of 18. Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answers. ANSWER: Nowadays, the degradation of children’s health as a result of their obsession with computers is concerning many parents. Some people suggest children under the age of 18 should be banned from using computers. But I do not think this solution will either work or do real good to children. An age limit for youth to use computers seems to make sense. Many computer games are of great quality and can be addictive, especially to the underage because they are too young to resist the temptation. Putting an age limit on children appears to be a silver bullet. But there are a lot of reasons against it. First, given the prosperity of the gaming industry and the popularity for computer games, it is really difficult to keep children away from the computers for long. Sooner or later, they are bound to be influenced by the environment and start to play computer games with or without their parents’ knowledge. Secondly, despite all the harms of computer games and children’s obsession with computers, they provide a good means for children to acquire knowledge efficiently, and the techniques of operating computers are essential for everyone to keep up with the pace in the information age. By the time it is supposedly appropriate for them to use computers, they have lost too many opportunities to broaden their horizons and have missed their golden time to learn to operate computers. Moreover, I believe the harms of computers on children can be minimised even if computers are not banned. For example, parents and teachers can encourage children to spend more time on outdoor activities and socialising. Also parents can guide children to use computers and help them to use computers for their own good. In conclusion, making sure children are not negatively affected by spending too much time on computers requires a lot more than a simple age limit. Parents and teachers ought to encourage children to use computers in a healthy way instead.