To prevent ＂short video addiction＂, we should give minors more choices.

　　In recent years, with the rise of short video platforms and the popularity of smart internet devices among students, the phenomenon of minors indulging in short videos has become increasingly prominent. Previously, many media reported that primary and secondary school students were addicted to brushing short videos, which caused great headaches for parents. According to the survey report "Characteristics and Protection of Short Videos for Primary and Secondary School Students" released by China Youth Research Center, 65.6% of the minors surveyed have watched short videos, and 20% of them "almost always" watch short videos. It is an indisputable fact that short videos have a deeper and deeper influence on minors.

　　Seeing that primary and secondary school students spend more and more time on short videos, some people are deeply worried that this habit will have a negative impact on minors’ self-control, concentration and cognitive level. To this end, many people have called on short video platforms and regulators to take more actions to reverse the current situation, guide minors to optimize their audio-visual habits, use the Internet scientifically and healthily, and reduce their addiction to short videos.

　　In order to solve this problem, various short video platforms have launched various anti-addiction countermeasures such as youth mode, but in practice, it is not difficult for children to bypass supervision with the help of elders or technical means. At the same time, the relevant departments are constantly strengthening supervision, cleaning up and rectifying the vulgar and illegal short video content that is harmful to the physical and mental health of minors. However, even if the content of short videos is relatively "clean", it is still something that parents do not want to see that minors watch short videos for a long time and become addicted to brushing videos.

　　To solve these seemingly intractable problems, we should not only understand the causes of minors’ addiction to short videos from the perspective of family education, but also dialectically look at the influence of online fashion trends on the next generation, and also take more practical actions to create more diversified choices for minors’ spiritual life.

　　Why are minors easily addicted to short videos? The reason is obviously not as simple as "short videos look good". The research of China Disaster Prevention Association’s research group on preventing teenagers’ internet addiction points out that the immersive platform caters to teenagers’ individual interests and tastes, and "technical dopamine" stimulates teenagers to pursue sustained pleasure, and compensatory satisfaction meets teenagers’ entertainment, information and social needs, all of which are the "tricks" that make teenagers fascinated by short videos. As a form of media, these characteristics of short videos are not "original sin" and may not necessarily lead to addiction. However, if minors find it difficult to find other spiritual lifestyles that can compete with them in all aspects in their lives, they will naturally get deeper and deeper in short videos.

　　In addition, parents are deaf to their children in family education, which also has a great influence on the behavior habits of minors. As some netizens spit out, in a family, if even parents can’t resist the "magic" of short videos, how can they expect their children to "get out of the mud and not dye" and consciously resist the temptation of short videos? In recent years, it is not difficult for us to observe the phenomenon that middle-aged and elderly people are addicted to mobile apps. The generalized "Internet addiction" is no longer a problem that belongs exclusively to young people. Parents’ words and deeds play a vital and irreplaceable role in the growth of minors. In fact, this is not only a matter of setting an example. If parents can save more time playing mobile phones and brushing short videos, accompany their children to read, watch movies and chat, and organize more parent-child activities such as outings and exhibitions, the entertainment, information and social needs of minors will naturally be more fully met, thus reducing the probability of their addiction to the Internet.

　　Of course, this is not to put all the responsibility of preventing minors from indulging in the internet on parents. In reality, there are indeed many parents who are busy with their work who appear to be "willing but unable" in their children’s education. From schools, relevant government departments to social organizations and Internet enterprises, all parties who are responsible and enthusiastic about education should take active actions to provide them with more high-quality choices for obtaining information, making friends, relaxing and releasing stress when the Internet is highly integrated into the lives of minors. At the same time, the short video platform should also pay more attention to the rights and interests of minors and standardize its operation under the reasonable supervision of relevant departments.

　　In addition, it is worth emphasizing that short videos are not a scourge, and the preference of contemporary minors for short videos is not necessarily useless. Although many previous studies have shown that watching short videos for a long time may make people lose patience and it is difficult to digest large pieces of information such as long articles and long videos. However, fragmented audio-visual habits may also be more suitable for the form of information transmission in the Internet age, and its long-term impact is difficult to predict. Faced with the negative impact of short videos, educators can actively guide minors to develop good reading habits and strengthen their training in understanding information. At the same time, they should bear in mind the truth that "blocking is better than sparse" and avoid overcorrection.

　　Last year, I witnessed an impressive scene while visiting relatives. At that time, the children whose relatives were still in elementary school had been sitting in front of the TV and staring at the screen intently, but what he watched was neither cartoons that his peers liked nor TV dramas that adults liked more, but short videos that were only ten seconds to tens of seconds long. I was surprised not only because it was the first time I saw someone brushing a short video on a big screen, but also because the child brushed it for more than an hour and couldn’t see the slightest boredom.

　　For most adults, short videos are just "electronic mustard tuber" to kill time. However, the new generation of minors who grew up around short videos may be more adapted to this form of communication with short length, high information density and small amount, so that they are regarded as the main channel to obtain information. In other words, in their lives, "electronic mustard tuber" has become an "electronic staple food". This scene not only makes me deeply feel the existence of the "generation gap", but also reminds me that the development of media technology is likely to bring about changes in cognitive habits between generations. In this regard, we should not only be responsible for the next generation to prevent minors from being addicted to short videos, but also maintain a peaceful and open mind about the new habits and preferences of minors.