Children lost in virtual worlds as gaming overuse rises in Vietnam

During the recent four-day holiday marking Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1), families gathered across the country, but many children disappeared into the virtual world.

At one home in the southern province of Dong Thap, 76-year-old K.P.'s grandchildren barely interacted outside mealtimes, preferring their phones over family conversations.

Last Saturday, at around 1:00 pm at an Internet café, 12-year-old T. and his younger brother played games non-stop for nearly five hours.

While T. boasted of six years of gaming experience and admitted he had quit school, his brother proudly said he had persuaded their mother to give him VND1 million (US$38) to upgrade his game character.

Another gamer, 22-year-old T.D.T. from Thanh My Tay Ward in Ho Chi Minh City, recalled spending heavily on ‘League of Legends’ skins during middle school, sometimes up to VND2 million ($76) at a time. 

He said gaming helped relieve stress but admitted it often led to his skipping classes and staying up late.

Despite regulations banning Internet cafés from operating between 10:00 pm and 8:00 am, many remain busiest during those hours.

Last Tuesday, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters found an Internet café in an alley on Nguyen Gia Tri Street in Thanh My Tay Ward secretly opening after midnight, offering 'night combos' for as little as VND35,000 ($1.32) each, and allowing gamers to play from 11:00 pm till 7:00 am with free drinks included.

Inside the facility, dozens of young players sat silently with headphones on, eyes fixed on screens.

Some gamers like 21-year-old H. from Dak Lak Province, located in the Central Highlands, admitted to playing until 4:00 or 5:00 am regularly.

Other cafés openly operated past 2:00 am, with staff selling discounted packages and ignoring age restrictions.

The dangers extend beyond health.

On July 10 last year, Hoang Thanh Cong, a 21-year-old worker from Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands murdered a motorbike taxi driver, identified as 55-year-old Pham Lac Hong, in Dong Nai City to steal his vehicle and mobile phone in order to fund his gaming addiction.

Cong, who dropped out of school early, sold the bike for VND4 million ($152), then paid two brokers VND300,000 ($11) each, and spent the rest entirely on online games.

On April 20, his sentence was increased from life imprisonment to death.

Lawyers cited Government Decree 147, issued in 2024 and effective the same year, as warning that Internet cafés face fines of VND5-10 million ($190-380) for violating operating hours.

Current rules require parents to register accounts for children under 16 and monitor their activity, but experts said that penalties are too weak and age verification systems inadequate.

Legal experts proposed stronger measures, such as multi-layered identity checks, parental-linked accounts, mandatory child safety tools on platforms, and regular inspections of gaming companies.

They also called for penalties against parents who fail to supervise, alongside digital literacy education in schools.