Hong Kong school pupils as young as seven are being referred for addiction counselling for online gaming, with requests for help involving increasingly younger children, a digital habits workshop has heard.
Crystal Leung Chui-yee, officer-in-charge of the Sunshine Lutheran Centre, a counselling and treatment centre for problem gamblers, revealed the alarming frontline trend at a workshop organised by Young Post and the South China Morning Post’s student business, SCMP Learn, attended by about 70 parents on Sunday.
Leung, a counselling psychologist, cited the case of a seven-year-old Primary Two pupil who was referred to her centre with a severe addiction to virtual subcultures and pay-to-win games.
“By the time he came to us, we discovered that he had taken nearly HK$8,000 in cash from his mother and used her credit card,” Leung said at the workshop, titled “AI responsibilities, digital habits and hidden pitfalls”.
“Eight thousand dollars is a massive sum for a seven-year-old. It signals an incredibly dangerous boundary cross.”
Leung said randomised gaming “loot boxes” could act as early conditioning for adult gambling addictions.