Survey: 90% of Chinese college kids play mobile games in class

China’s high-pressure academic system often leads to conflicts between parents, teachers, and children over students’ gaming habits. Sometimes, those conflicts end tragically. But what happens after Chinese students get into college, when the pressure is mostly off? According to a recent survey conducted by a reporter for Netease Games, it becomes a mobile gaming free-for-all.

The reporter conducted a survey of around 100 students (half male, half female) at three different colleges, and found that 90% of students admitted to having played with their phones during classes. 49% said they did it often, and of those students, 60% said they used their phone at least once every ten minutes during class. Of course, they aren’t only playing mobile games—students said they did everything from chatting on WeChat to watching movies during their class time. Gaming is definitely a favorite for some, though. One girl told Netease: “All my high scores were achieved when I was in class.”

(See: Chinese father beats 14-year-old with stick over gaming habit)

Students playing on their mobile phones is a problem everywhere, but it may be a particularly acute problem in China’s universities because there is less pressure on university students perform. Popular wisdom holds that the most difficult thing many Chinese students will do at university is earn their initial admission. Once a student is admitted and their tuition paid, it is rare that they not graduate.

After the pressure-cooker that is China’s pre-college education system, China’s college students suddenly find themselves relatively free from parental and teacher pressure to perform. This is less true at the more reputable schools, of course—and students tend to be more self-motivated at those schools anyway—but where a Chinese high school student might get a tongue lashing from his teacher, his parents, and his grandparents for playing on his phone, a Chinese college student likely wouldn’t hear much from anyone.

And while the Netease survey was small, the article’s comments are already full of users saying they did, or are currently doing, the same thing. Several wrote variations of “I’m reading this news while in class.”

Did you—or do you currently—ever break out your phone to play games during class? How do you think teachers should deal with this phenomenon?

(via Netease Games)

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