Children Foundation Advise Parents to Pay Attention to Claw Cranes|夾娃娃機熱潮襲台 防沉迷家長自租研究

The arcade claw machines continue to gain popularity across Taiwan. A recent survey revealed that around 10 percent of children spend at least four days per week playing claw machines, and about 7 percent hang around the claw machines after 10pm at nights. Child care groups advise parents to avoid leaving children hanging around the crane machines alone and to watch out for addiction.


Picking off a stuffed animal with the claw is quite an entertaining activity for children. The claw cranes continue to gain popularity across Taiwan, leading many parents to worry about their children playing too much and staying late outside. A parent actually joined the child in playing in order to study the machine's addiction.

Most of the time when I play claw cranes, I'm with my fellow students.

We rented a claw crane together and made a project. I'm hoping to help my child deconstruct the machine's addiction.

The rising popularity and numbers of the claw cranes have led to a number of issues. According to the latest survey by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, around 10.9 percent of children spend at least four days a week on claw cranes, while 7 percent of stay around claw cranes after 10 pm at nights. Further analysis has shown that, among the children who play claw cranes after 10 pm a nights, 88.6 percent said they enjoy the game, and 53.8 percent said they tend to keep dropping money to try to pick up the items they wanted.

It takes money to play the claw cranes. If a child plays four days per week, how much would it cost per day? And where does the money come from? The situation might worsen and the children could develop inappropriate behaviors. We hope the parents would pay more attention to their children.

The survey also showed that around 17 percent of children go to the claw machines by themselves, while 30 percent go with their friends and another 30 percent go with their families. 67.8 percent of the children share their trophies with parents. On the other hand, the survey shows that as much as 42.2 percent of the parents are against their children playing with claw cranes. The Taiwan Fund for Children and Families believe that parents should provide guidance to their children in order to prevent them from developing an addiction. On the other hand, the government should enhance the security and patrol around claw crane shops that open late at night and lack management.