Heads up, people! 抬頭吧，低頭族！

Many travelers are “phubbers,” staring at their smartphones while waiting on the platform in Taipei on Feb. 17 this year.
今年二月十七日，許多乘客在月台等車時都成了低頭族，埋頭看手機。

Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者廖振輝

Due to the popularity of smartphones and tablets, more and more teenagers have become members of the “heads down,” or phubbers, group. To safeguard the physical and psychological development of the youth, the National Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed manufacturers of these devices to add warnings on the devices, packages and manuals of smartphones and tablets, reminding people that they should not spend a long period of time staring at the screens.

The amendment of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act was passed by the legislature on the third reading on Jan. 23, stipulating that children and youths may not spend a long period of time using electronic devices.

In addition to reminding people that overusing electronic devices can harm visual acuity, the NCC also urged people should take a 10-minute break after using smartphones or tablets for 30 minutes; children younger than 2 years of age should not stare at screens; children older than 2 years of age should not stare at screens for longer than 1 hour per day.

(Liberty times, translated by Ethan Zhan)

TODAY’S WORDS
今日單字

1. manual n.

說明書 (shuo1 ming2 shu1)

例: I’ve never read such an interesting manual before.

(我從沒讀過這麼有趣的說明書。)

2. legislature n.

立法院 (li4 fa3 yuan4)

例: Laws are made by the legislature, but legislators are elected by the people.

(法律是立法院制定的，但立法委員是人民選出來的。)

3. visual acuity phr.

視力 (shi4 li4)

例: If you want to grow up to be a pilot, you must have good visual acuity.

(如果你長大後想當機長，視力一定要好。)

智慧型手機、平板滿街跑，愈來愈多青少年加入「低頭」一族。為保障兒少身心發展，國家通訊傳播委員會（NCC）輔導業者在手機、平板的機身、外包裝及說明書上加註警語，提醒民眾勿長時間看螢幕。

立法院在今年一月二十三日三讀通過兒童及少年福利與權益保障法（簡稱兒少法）修正案，明定兒童及少年不得長時間使用電子類產品。

除了提醒3C產品使用過度恐傷害視力，NCC也呼籲，國人使用三十分鐘手機、平板請休息十分鐘；二歲以下幼兒不看螢幕，二歲以上每天看螢幕不要超過一小時。

（自由時報記者蔡穎）

Observe children’s use of electronics to understand their minds: psychiatrists 觀察孩子玩3C 了解內心世界

Regarding whether parents can truly comprehend what their children are thinking, psychiatrists say that with kids nowadays so enthralled with IT products, there is very little interaction and communication going on between parents and children, causing many things to remain bottled up and left unsaid. Can parents actually gain any insight by observing what video games their kids like to play? Which TV shows they enjoy watching? Which characters they like? If you want to understand a child’s inner world, there is no harm in talking and playing with them while they play with the IT products.

Lam Pok, an attending physician at Miaoli Wei Gong Memorial Hospital’s psychiatry department, says that back before 3C (computer, communications and consumer electronics) products existed, children and parents had more opportunities to talk with each other. Children used to vent their emotions by playing outdoor sports and also talked to their parents more about their feelings. With the proliferation of electronic products, video games have become the main way that children express their feelings. Characters in television dramas have also become objects for children to obtain emotional sustenance, making them less fond of talking to their parents about personal matters.

Lam says the theory of psychological projection explains why adolescents and young people often enjoy playing video games — the opponent that they are fighting is not actually the enemy in the game, but rather more likely to be someone in real life who makes them feel incredible pressure. It could be a classmate, a teacher or possibly parents. The same principle applies to watching the plots on TV or in films. Children who lack true love from their parents will easily be moved to tears when they see an alien savior come on the screen, Lam says.

When parents see their child playing video games or watching TV, it is best to get closer to them to make observations and show more concern for the child. Lam suggests that parents find an appropriate time to ask the following three questions. The first should be about which character they like the most. Liking a particular character is usually because that character has similar personality traits or has suffered in similar ways as the child. The second question should be about which character they wish they could be. This will be the person that possesses something that the child is lacking but aspires to be. The third question asks the child which character they loathe the most, which can represent someone who has probably hurt the child or gives them stress, Lam says.

(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)

家長是否真的了解孩子在想什麼，精神科醫師表示，現在的孩子喜歡3C產品，與父母互動溝通少，以致很多事都放在心裡不說，其實家長可以透過觀察孩子喜歡玩什麼電玩遊戲？看什麼類型的電視節目？又喜歡哪個角色？想要了解孩子的內心世界，不妨利用孩子玩3C產品時，跟孩子多談談與多溝通。

苗栗為恭醫院精神科主治醫師林博說，在以前沒有3C產品的年代，孩子與父母說話的機會較多，孩子除運動宣洩情緒外，也比較會告訴父母，但在3C產品普及之後，電玩往往成為孩子發洩情緒的方法，電視劇中的角色也成為了情感寄託的對象，讓孩子較不愛告訴父母關於自己的事情。

林博指出，從學理上的「投射理論」，可以看到青少年喜愛打電玩，往往是在對打速度感中發洩內在的不滿及痛苦，對打的對象其實不是遊戲中的敵人，而可能是生活中壓得他喘不過氣的人；這個人可能是同學、老師也可能是父母；看電視或是電影劇情也是相同的道理，缺乏父母真愛的小孩看到外星來的拯救者，會激動地流下眼淚來。

當父母看到孩子在打電玩或是看電視時，最好能走近觀察與關心一下孩子。林博建議，父母可以適時問三個問題，第一個是「你最喜歡裡面的誰？」因為會喜歡一個角色，是因為角色個性、遭遇和自己相似；第二個問題則是「你想當裡面的誰？」因為這正是孩子自己缺乏但卻十分嚮往的人；第三個問題則是「你討厭裡面的誰？」因為這個人可能曾經傷害過他或是造成壓力的人。

（自由時報記者魏怡嘉）