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(CNN) - A city in Indonesia hopes that nature can save children from Internet addiction. But can chicks and trees replace iPhones and smart TVs?
The city of Bandung in West Java has launched a pilot program to move students away from the screens by giving them chicks and chili seeds, hoping that children spend less time on electronic devices and more time taking care of their pets or plants.
The Bandung government said it provided 2,000 chicks and 1,500 chili seeds to 10 primary schools and two high schools in the city, located about 150 kilometers southeast of the capital, Jakarta.
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Mayor Oded M. Danial held a symbolic delivery ceremony earlier this week to launch the program. The official hopes the project will help children use electronic devices less frequently, but local education authorities need time to evaluate it.
Smartphone addiction
The average Internet user in Indonesia spends eight hours and 36 minutes per day online, almost two hours more than the world average, according to the Global Digital Report 2019, created by the social media management platform Hootsuite and the digital marketing agency We are social.
Several parents in Bandung seemed to support the program called “chickenization”, according to an article published on the official website of the local government.
“It is good to increase the discipline of children. Caring for trees is better than playing with cell phones, ”said local father Elis Puri. Elis' daughter received chili seeds.
Several children who received chicks said they had several plans for the birds. A fifth grade student said he hoped to raise chickens, while a seventh grade student said he hoped to take care of his chick until he was old enough to cook it.
Emily Dixon of CNN contributed to this report.
Indonesia