(ECNS) -- A mother surnamed Huang in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province has voiced concern that her son, a third grader in primary school, might develop an addiction to smartphone study apps recommended by his teachers, Qianjiang Evening News reports.
Huang's son has had five apps installed on his phone covering math, English and Chinese subjects. Every day, teachers assign tasks offered by the apps as homework, she said.
At first, Huang thought the apps were a novel way to draw her son's interest to his studies. But soon she sensed something was going wrong: He seemed obsessed with the smartphone programs.
The math app gives a nationwide ranking of results according to the number of problems solved and their accuracy. Huang said her son soon became crazy about getting a higher ranking and chose easier problems that were below his level or repeated the same tasks.
"That was purely a waste of time," Huang said.
Her son woke up one night and asked for her phone, saying he wanted to do more math problems. Pipi told his mother many of his classmates did so to earn more points when others were asleep.
It is commonplace for schools in Wenzhou and in the whole province to recommend study apps to students, the paper said.
The headmaster at a local primary school told the paper most parents gave positive feedback about such apps.
Li, a mother of a second grader, said the apps motivate her child to devote more time to studying and helped ease her worries because she was too busy with her own work.
But other parents said that almost every study app has a stimulation mechanism that could make ambitious children become addicted or deal a blow to those who lack self-confidence.
Smartphones are banned in primary schools, but children are encouraged to learn to use Internet tools, including study software, in a proper way after school, local schools and education authorities said.
Lin Yanqin, an education expert at Wenzhou University, said parents should not be too anxious and instead use proper guidance in children's use of study apps.
