PM Modi gave his thoughts on PUBG Mobile addiction during Pariksha Par Charcha 2.0
Prime Minister Modi weighed in on PUBG Mobile addiction during his interaction with students and parents at his Pariksha Par Charcha 2.0 event in Delhi earlier today. A mother complained to PM Modi that her son was addicted to online games and neglecting his studies. PM Modi replied: "PUBG-wala hai kya? (Does he play PUBG?),” leaving the audience in splits. He then pondered if he was a Fortnite player. And while the humour was appreciated, PM Modi proceeded to give his serious thoughts on PUBG Mobile addiction as well as technology in general.
The Prime Minister believed it was not good to keep children away from technology altogether.
"Explore ways in which you encourage your children towards accepting and understanding technology," he said. PM Modi added, "But remember, technology should be used to expand our horizons, not to let it shrink us in our life. It should not be allowed to narrow us down, as that would be very harmful for us."
"Like everything else, technology too comes with its positives and negatives. As parents, we must guide our children to get the most from technology. Encourage their inquisitiveness on learning about various apps... like how to build something, or cook something," he added.
PM Modi said he believes if parents reached out to their children with these efforts, they would move from "PlayStation to the playground".
The Prime Minister's comments follow the ban on PUBG Mobile in primary schools in Gujarat as well as calls for a ban of the game in Jammu and Kashmir. While PUBG has been available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, it's most popular in India on Android and iOS in a large part to it being free to play. On mobile the game has garnered over 200 million downloads and 30 million daily active users globally.
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