For parents of pre-teens, particularly boys, it seems they live at the computer station. But how much is it really?
Look at how much time he’s actually spending at the computer and what the impact is on the rest of his life. Does he have friends? How is he doing in school?
Then decide how much time you think is appropriate for him to be on the computer playing games. Sit down with him and let him know that from now on he can play games for, let’s say, an hour a day. Don’t expect him to be happy with this decision. It’s not your job to make him happy. It’s your job to help him have some balance in his activities.
Let him know that he can play computers after he has completed his homework. You can say; “When you finish your homework, you may have one-hour of computer game time.”
Of course, he’ll say that he’s doing research and quite probably he is. If that’s the case you can still set a limit.
Computers with both their research capabilities and fun potential are not all bad but just like anything else, it’s about balance.
