By Park Chung-a Staff Reporter Prepaid cards for online games are gaining high popularity among teenagers, contributing to addiction to the games. Prepaid cards are sold at three different prices _ 3,000 won, 5,000 won and 10,000 won. They can be purchased at stationery shops, bookstores and commercial computer rooms without any restriction and can be used instead of cash for paying for online games at commercial game rooms. After buying the card, all one has to do is enter the numbers written on the back of the card into the computer to get access to the online games at commercial game rooms. That way, children can easily get access to online games without any permission from parents. ``As a teenager you are required to get permission from parents when you want to pay for your game fees through cell phones. However, prepaid cards do not require such a process. Thus, I, and many of my friends, use the prepaid card for playing online games. You can play a game as much as you want as long as you have those prepaid cards,’’ said Lim Dong-hwan, an 11-year-old student who lives in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul. He said that he spends one third of his pocket money on buying prepaid cards for online games. ``Giving prepaid cards for online games as a present to friends is very popular these days,’’ said Lee Jang-won, a 10-year-old. ``In order to play online games and buy online game items, there are many friends who buy prepaid cards every day.’’ Lee Song-hee, a 42-year-old mother of a teenager student, said that there should be regulations in selling prepaid cards to children in order to prevent them from getting addicted to online games. ``Prepaid cards for online games are being sold to children without any restriction. More and more children are becoming addicted to games due to the free access of such cards,’’ said Lee. ``I also think it is important to educate teenagers on the use of prepaid cards.’’ michelle@koreatimes.co.kr