As psychologists and experts warn of long-lasting adverse effect on mind,even leading to mental disorders,and aggressive behaviour pattern in children,the Punjab education department has stepped up efforts to wean away students from the video game parlours in the state. The office of Director General of School Education has taken recourse to Gandhigiri - theyll urge the owners of the video game parlours not to allow students during the school hours. Also to stop students from bunking classes,the DGSE in a set of guidelines issued to the heads of the schools,has said that it may take to legal recourse against as extreme step if they let the children in to play video games during the school hours. We got the information that in many schools,students bunk the classes and spend time in video game parlours. This affects their studies, said Director General of School Education (DGSE),Punjab,B Purushartha. Besides asking the teachers and parents to ensure that no student leaves during school hours,the DGSE would also put some moral pressure on owners of video game parlours urging them to think about the students future and not the profit. In case the Gandhigiri does not work,our officials would explore legal recourse and take up the matter with the district administration and police officials, Purushartha said. For petty sums of money (earned by parlours from students),we would not let them (owners) ruin the future of the country. The guidelines,issued by the office of DGSE recently stated that a letter received by the department said that the students leave for video game parlours during school hours and remain there till the last period. Requests made to the owners of such parlours did not yield any result. Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police,Gurpreet Singh Gill,said police officials can only counsel students and parlour owners, if intervention is sought. We can take a legal action only in cases where the students are exposed to obscene stuff, Gill added. The parlour owners,however,shift the blame on students and schools. How can we stop someone if he is not in school uniform? Students these days carry alternate sets of clothing to indulge in such kinds of adventures, said Harsimranjit Singh,who runs Friends Gaming Station in Patiala. The onus to ensure that students do not bunk classes for video games lies with the school administration, he added. The DGSE,meanwhile,appears determined to go ahead with the plan. There is a wide legal scanner such parlours could be put under. This includes verification regarding license to run such parlours,their opening and closing hours,and their income and service tax details,among other things, Purushartha said.
