Was Curious How You Handle "Play Units"

I have an 8 year old boy. I am pretty open on the weekends if we are home. Through the week there aren't any video games one school nights. If it is a half day or there isn't any homework then I will let them play a little maybe 30 mins but no more than that. He has to read for 30 mins every night anyway so he doesn't seem to have as much time as he would like!

My 5 year old is limited to 30 minutes a day of PS2/computer game time. He doesn't play everyday, but when he asks to play there's the time limit. We do make exceptions for special things... like over Christmas break he was allowed to play for 2 hours a day because he had new games he wanted to play and we were all stuck inside due to weather. He knows that's a treat, though, and not the norm. One days that he has homework (it's like 15 minutes worth about once a week) he can't play video games or computer games until it's done.

I am probably a bad mom because I don't limit it. All 4 of my children are incredibly active with sports all year round and all kinds of school clubs so the little free time that they have, I allow them to play. My kids are not that nutty over it but do fall into ruts with it - like over Christmas - where they wanted to play their new games all the time. Being that we only have one game unit and 4 kids, they have to take turns. I have an oven timer where each kid gets 20 minutes to play before letting their sibling play. The kids don't even look at it during the summer because we are never home between all the sports.

I know that my neighbors have issues with their kids on WII all the time. their rule is that they have to earn time to play. Doing their chores earns a certain amount of minutes, reading a book = minutes per page, and so on so that they get up and move once in a while. It seems to work for them.

Good luck!

S.

Be prepared. My son is a young teen and alllll and I mean all of his friends (and some of thier dad's)are completely obsessed with playing games both online and with various consoles. We do limit his time but they have parties and sleepovers where that's all they want to do. Yes they do other things too, but it's definitely the "t.v." of this generation. So anyway, I guess you have to figure out how much you think is ok. I allow my son to play for a while for a short break after school, (unless he has another activity)and then he has to do other things and his homework before he can go back to it. Also, it's the first thing we take away for disciplinary action and it works like a charm.

Not sure what unit you have, but the newer ones (I believe) have the ability to program hours they can be used.

My boys are way too young (2.5 and 5 months) but my sister is almost 16 and has a computer that she goes on. My mom doesn't let her use it until homework is done, dinner is done and things are cleared up. She doesn't have a "bedtime" anymore as she's almost 16 and has to pay the price if she's up too late. On the weekends, she doesn't really spend time on the computer as she's hanging out with friends or whatever.

My husband and I love video games, but just don't have the time for them now (obviously). But, we will not allow our boys to veg out infront of them for hours at a time - or the TV for that matter. I just don't like the idea of it, to be honest.

Good luck.

T.

i suggest you use a new product called Plugstop. It is essentially a way of keeping kids/teens off games consoles and computers by locking the plug by doing this you can limit the amount of time spent on consoles. http://www.plugstop.co.uk/
Hope this helped
V.

My son is 13 and he is crazy about Xbox and Playstation too. Our rule is simple. No XBox or Playstation during the school week. He can play for an hour or an hour and a half on Saturday and Sunday.

If he gets in trouble, then he doesnt get to play in the weekend. It might sound a little strict, but trust me it works wonders.
:-)

Those things are privledges earned only after homework, chores, and whatever else you expect from him. An hour on each game if time allows. Don't forget to allow "family time". Very important.

Hi S.,

My son is a freshman in high school and is also addicted to his xBox 360. The fact that all his friends are online and encouraging him to join makes it all the more difficult. The rules we have for video games are the same as for television: No video games on school nights period. Friday after school (after all homework is finished) through Sunday at 6pm is pretty flexible. Saturday morning no games until all chores are completed. I also require 1 solid hour of reading on the weekends which helps break up the game playing. And when the weather is nice outside I make him go outside for a few hours. I can remember breaking my neck to get out of the house during the summer and staying out as long as possible. I for one am not a fan of video games. I hope this helps! :-)

Hi S.,

My kids are young but the way I've seen my sister do it works great. She is very strict.
They get 3 days a week thet can pick which days and they get a certain amount of time. I believe during the week 2 hours each time they play and weekends a little more, say 3 hours.

They can no play on the off days and they can not go over, once you compromise, they won't take your rule seriously.

Her kids are both doing great in school, active in other activities like soccer, tawkwan do, etc.
In the long run, rules aren't for your benefit but for theirs. If they don't learn moderation as children, they will struggle to moderate "pleasurable" from the mundane we all have to do....
I see it with many kids, they no longer care for social interaction, they don't excell in school and have basically no self control.
They do poorly in life in general.

M

I make my kids "earn" time on the games. They earn it minute for minute by reading. For each minute read, they earn a minute on their games. Good Luck.

First off how old is your son? If he is young I would just set a time limit. I know my daughter who is 9 loves the computer. She is not allowed to get on the computer until first all her homework is done and second until all her chores are done. Also she is not allowed on the computer after 8pm because like the playstation, xbox, they are very stimulating and make it hard for your brain to get into the sleep mode. Again I think it depends on his age and grades. Now our kids play on the computuer and with the playstaion, gamecube more often then I would like this time of the year but it is because it is cold out. Though the days it is possible to go out we do. I think that is also something to take into consideration.

My son has had a 'game system' since he was around 1st or 2nd grade. Back then I would limit his playing when it was during warm weather - I'd actually kick him and his friends out to 'enjoy the outdoors'. They didn't seem to mind, especially if I offered to take everyone to the beach or something like that. Eventually, he preferred the outdoors when it was warmer.

As far as the winter, I was a little easier on him. Although, he also had other toys like legos that would interest him and I was still able to get him into drawing, which he became good at. We made sure there were plenty of indoor activities that were not video games, during the colder weather.

I believe that we need to help them form good habits early on. Although, making it seem fun or their idea is the hard part. I tell you, we should get paid for being psychologists!!

Good luck!
M.

I have a husband that's the same way. It drives me INSANE!!!!! I have no suggestion, just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain!