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| Parents of Teens |
| Public online group |
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| Help! I need ideas! How long should a teen be allowed to use phone, computer, tv, video games, etc.? I don't want mine to have unlimited use but I still want to be fair. |
| Posted by Cheryl on 07/01/2007 01:54 PM
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As for phone; we are talking about the home phone or is it her "cell phone"?
Phone usage in my home is only used for communication-getting from point A to point B. My son (14) does not blab on the phone for long periods of time. As for cell phone: he is allowed to use mine Friday thru Sunday. It is relinquished if he uses it for conversation-I will know when the bill comes in. We are really strict on this.
Computer: one hour a day-in the evening only, right before bed, but after dinner.
Video Games: that's a tough one. Now that it is summer, he plays his hand held gameboy a lot. As long as he does his house chores, tidy's his room, and laundry is put away-he can play it. It has to be shut off by 8:00pm.
TV is watched with the family. When he is in his room-he can watch TV, but the time he watches is so little. When his sister (4) watches TV in his room, it is for about an hour, the most. |
| posted by esther on 07/01/2007 02:32 PM
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This doesn't work for everyone, but my kids are really self-limiting on all those things.
I worried about Daniel earlier in his life because his grampa and older brother had him addicted to video games at age 3 (I have a picture of him sitting in a Tonka dumptruck, holding a small American flag, and holding a Nintendo controller with his tongue sticking out and his eyes glued to the TV! It is SO hilarious.)
He's 15 now and does spend quite a bit of time on video games, BUT he also comes out of his room just to chat with the family, goes to his friends' to swim and play, plays with his sister and the dog outside, explores in the forest, does his chores, and never complains about having to pause or turn off his game for some reason. TV he gets bored with fairly quickly. Computer, he likes, but not like I do! And his internet activity consists of checking out the latest stuff on WWE and maybe, if he's in a good mood, checking his email.
He'd never talk on the phone if he could get away with it.
Rachel is 11 and a TV kid through and through. She spends very little time on video games or computer. Since she does go play and swim, play with her brother and the dog, run errands with me, and play pretend in her room, I don't feel the need to limit her on the TV. Phone may become a problem with her later, but right now she wants to talk to her friends but it kind of interferes with what she wants to be doing so she doesn't stay on more than 15 minutes usually.
I was an unregulated teenager who spent hours on the phone every day (and that was before call waiting, multiple phone lines, and cell phones were readily available). My dad is a couch potato, so I watched a lot of TV. We had the very first Nintendo Video Game System that came out - but I wasn't as interested in that as my boyfriend was. No home computers back then. I read and read, and played the piano.
If I do have start limiting Rachel on the phone it will be something like only 30 minutes out of every two hours.
Otherwise, as long as they spend time outdoors, with their friends and family, and doing other things at home I don't see a need to limit mine.
Anyone else do something different? |
| posted by Kelly on 07/01/2007 02:41 PM
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| Having the kids earn their time seems to be working out so far. They have a choice of 1 hr/phone or 1 hr/online. But now I've got the problem of how many times can they go online or use the phone in a day. If I let them they'll be earning & using time all day long. Ex: I think mowing the lawn is worth 1 hr. of time but using the phone for 1 hr. seems excessive (but then again, maybe not for teens!). I have call waiting so missing incoming calls isn't an issue unless I'm not told someone called. If I split the time into four 15min calls how do I keep track of them? What if SD didn't want to talk for an hr, what happens to the left over time? And if she earns 4 hrs time does that mean she can go online for 4 hrs straight? (These are questions she asked me when she started earning time). I didn't know how to respond, I hadn't thought of all the possible scenarios yet. Maybe I could come up w/some kind of coupon system or chart to keep track of time earned & used. Any ideas? |
| posted by Cheryl on 07/01/2007 04:41 PM
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