O/T-Informal Poll: Do you still limit screen time for teens?

[beachnut]

Just curious if anyone besides me still limits the amount of screen time their teens have each day. By screen time, I mean any electronic gadgets your teens spend time on for fun -- PS3, computers, TV, phones, handheld video games, etc.

 

If left to his own devices (no pun intended), DS15 would spend 90% of his free time playing video games. I allow him about 1 to 1.5 hours a day of purely fun screen time, with a bit more on the weekends. He seems to lack the ability/desire/need to self-moderate, which really bothers me. By imposing my limits, I force him to find more productive ways to spend his time. He doesn't like it, but he complies.

 

Anyone else still deal with this?

[1Togo]

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Edited May 8, 2012 by 1Togo

[1Togo]

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[Jenny in Florida]

For my daughter, no. She's finished with school and is good about helping with household stuff. So, I see no need to manage this for her.

 

For my son, yes. We don't have strict time limits or anything like that, but we do still have restrictions about when he may use electronics. He's never allowed to turn on the TV, for example, until after school time for the day is finished. And, if his schoolwork isn't done well or if we have any other issues during the day, he's not allowed TV or computer gaming time at all.

 

We do have a Wii, but I can't remember the last time he played it.

 

He has an iPod touch, but he uses it almost exclusively for music.

 

He likes to play games on the computer, which he is allowed to do as long as schoolwork is done well and he's completed any other tasks I've assigned.

 

If he's been plugged in for a long time, I will sometimes tap him on the shoulder and tell him he should take a break and find something else to do.

 

Honestly, he doesn't have a lot of free time to spend on electronics. Between schoolwork and volunteering and dance classes and music lessons and theatre rehearsals and performances, he's lucky if he manages to squeeze in an hour of electronics play time any day.

[KS_]

My teen is just barely a teen, but he has limits. Both my dc get a block of computer time at the beginning of the week (providing they've cleaned their rooms) and they can spend it how they like after school work is finished. Some weeks, they blow through it in the first couple of days, other weeks, they don't. I don't always like them spending several hours in one day playing, but I do think it helps teach them how to budget their time if they want to be able to play later in the week.

[elegantlion]

We don't and ds is good about self regulation on games. He never watches tv because he doesn't want to, my dh watches enough for all of us. Ds hobbies are computer related, fromprogramming to animation to some graphic arts. He rotates and dabbles in things. Last night he was watching a documentary on Linux, last week he was watching c++ tutorials. His future career may be computer related, so we consider it part of his education, kind of anunschooled part. With limits he would have never stumbled across these interests.

[Suzannah]

Like Jenny in Florida, we don't have strict time limits, but DS doesn't always have time for screen activities so it's somewhat self-limiting.

 

All computer and video game time is contingent upon schoolwork being completed and a good attitude. I've found if the attitude is bad, a week without video games magically corrects it.

 

Our biggest concern is video games. We don't usually watch TV during the day and then DH watches news or things he likes once he gets home. About 3-4 times a week we'll watch Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs or one of the survival-type shows as a family. And maybe once or twice a week we watch an old Gunsmoke on Netflix together.

 

We have had time limits in the past, but this year really didn't seem necessary. Scouts, Wednesday night Bible class, campouts and other activities all put natural restrictions on screen time here. While there may be an occasional Saturday marathon of games, it's pretty rare.

[Laura Corin]

Yes: half an hour Mon-Fri; two hours on Sat-Sun.

 

Laura

[KAR120C]

I think I'd want to approach it in a "how can you learn to self-regulate" kind of way, just as a nod to the fact that we won't always be there to enforce, but as long as it's a problem I would enforce it while I could anyhow.

 

For DS it hasn't been a problem. He does occasionally watch or play more than he ought to, but he recognizes it, regrets it, and doesn't do it again for quite a while. And it hasn't interfered with deadlines... so I leave it to him to work that out on his own.

[Tasia]

My oldest is 13, but I haven't set strict limits for screen time for him (or any of the boys). He watches TV a few hours per week, maybe a movie once a week, and he uses the computer for an hour or two per day. If I think he's spending too much time on the computer, I find other things for him to do and tell him he has 15 more minutes before I need him to go to the store, start piano practice, start Math etc.

[Julie in MN]

No. The boys on my dh's side of the family are very computer & gaming oriented and have been since I got married some 29 years ago. It's just a part of their culture. I don't like it that well, but I'm not pulling my boys away from their family (and friends are in there, too).

 

I will say that my oldest son grew out of it to a large extent, once college & job took over his life. He spends more time playing hockey than playing computer games, by far. So I hope my youngest will grow out of it, as well :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I do put the kabash when responsibilities aren't getting done -- including the responsibility to take care of one's health by sleeping.

 

Just our way,

Julie

[luvnlattes]

We do somewhat. They're limited to 1 hour daily M-Th. This is enforced on the larger screens like TV/computer/gaming. I don't actually time them but if it seems like they've been on for a while, I usually point it out. They have a pretty good idea of how long they've been on and will stop voluntarily right around one hour.

 

I don't monitor how much time they spend on iPod apps but would guess it could add up to another hour or so later in the evening.

[mooooom]

and I don't think we limited their screen time since they were teens. They definitely spend too much time playing computer games! But I don't feel that I can say anything about it anymore. They are both off to college in the fall. They both have merit scholarships and need to maintain a certain GPA (because if they don't they will be out, we won't make up the difference). So, I have a feeling they will learn the hard way. Either that, or they will become so enamored with the college life, and being surrounded by other kids/activities that it will no longer become necessary for them to spend their time doing it. I think at this point they are somewhat bored of our home life and don't have nearby friends to hang out with.

[MtnTeaching]

We have always had the rule of "no video games during the week". The kids have never brought it up since they became teens, so I certainly haven't mentioned it.:D

 

If I have the remote (which is usually a remote possibility) we watch some tv at night, but it is usually the Discovery Channel, BBC America, or Netflix documentaries.

 

My husband, on the other hand, loves the remote and will switch it to a movie every chance he gets. We also watch sports on the weekend or biking when we can (Giro d'Italia this week!).

[Sunshine State Sue]

If left to his own devices (no pun intended), DS15 would spend 90% of his free time playing video games.

Yup. This describes ds16. I stopped limiting screen time a year or so ago. Dh does not support the idea of limiting it, so it has been a life long battle here. Ds does not self-regulate.

 

I encourage you to limit as long as you are able.

[beachnut]

Thanks for the input. The lack of self-regulation has always been a problem, but I thought by now he'd be better at it. It seems to be getting worse now that he's older, since there are more gadgets around -- cell phone, iPod, computer, etc. I will have to fight this battle until maturity kicks in and he grows out of it ... or until he goes off to college and has to figure it out himself. :glare:

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[mjbucks1]

My older kids have tokens, each worth 1/2 hour of screen time. They get 14 tokens (or 7 hours) per week. During the traditional school year they usually never use all of their tokens as they just don't have time (they do school all day until they leave for swim practcie around 3:30. They don't get home until 8:00, so they eat, we get the kitchen cleaned, abd they go to bed). They are not allowed to have screen time without asking. During the summer they have a little more free time, so the tokens are more important. If we watch a movie together as a family, or play a Wii game together as a family, they do not have to use their tokens. My kids have done great with this system. I would rather have them doing something productive (reading, or sewing for our dd). My ds 14 loves computer programming and is taking an online class this year. He wants to continue to learn Java this summer and I will NOT count that as screen time (since it is a learning activity). I highly recommend limiting their screen time. There is very little on TV worth watching, anyway :D.

[dkholland]

We do here with our 17 ds. He purchased himself a Galaxy media player and it is a really neat device. He has alwYs had limits since he was little. Recently, I see him with the thing in his hand all. The. Time. He texts friends non stop. Plus he is winding down his classes and has little to do after lunch. Yesterday I asked him to limit his netflix watching until after 3 pm because it just causes too much conflict with the younger boys. I suggested he read a real book! I just cannot condone movie watching during our school hrs.

 

We really want him to set his own limits and mostly he does a good job. We as a family need to have more tech-free days. Sometimes we are all in our separate corners on our own devices! In this day and age, it is an uphill battle with technology in our house :glare:

 

HTH

[lllll]

....

[AngelaNYC]

Just curious if anyone besides me still limits the amount of screen time their teens have each day. By screen time, I mean any electronic gadgets your teens spend time on for fun -- PS3, computers, TV, phones, handheld video games, etc.

 

If left to his own devices (no pun intended), DS15 would spend 90% of his free time playing video games. I allow him about 1 to 1.5 hours a day of purely fun screen time, with a bit more on the weekends. He seems to lack the ability/desire/need to self-moderate, which really bothers me. By imposing my limits, I force him to find more productive ways to spend his time. He doesn't like it, but he complies.

 

Anyone else still deal with this?

 

Here's what I've learned. Self moderation doesn't happen overnight. It can take months. But if that's the goal, parents have to be very patient waiting for it to happen. I have no limits on any devices and never have any of my kids used anything to excess (I learned that from my unschooler friends). If you're new to self moderation/regulation, you will have to expect a lot of limit-pushing and overuse. But it's worth it in the long run. There never has to be any "forbidden fruits" where children feel they have to be sneaky in order to do or use something. Self-regulation with anything in life is so important, especially throughout adulthood.

[J-rap]

When all of our kids were home still, they were allowed 20 minutes every 4 hours, through high school. (Not counting school projects.)

 

After our first three graduated and in the midst of a lot of changes for our family, we haven't been quite as strict about it with our youngest two. However, they have good habits in place, and are probably not on it for more than an hour/day. (Otherwise I would set down limits.)

[Sunshine State Sue]

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Edited May 9, 2012 by Sue in St Pete