My daughter is driving me mad with her addiction to gaming / Tv
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She's 10. This issue obviously started years ago when she was allowed screen time. I don't think it is her fault. she became addicted because of a lack of boundaries/controlled screen time. (Boundaries that should be set by the parents) I would get rid of all screens at home. Get the TV out. Get the cellphone and tablet out, and only use the chrome book with supervision. A parent or caregiver should be on her when she's using it to make sure she's not playing video games.
@Neena no I was allowing her to do so
@Karol she never had a tablet and even TV was just TV not YouTube or Netflix however was always on at weekends even if she isn’t watching it’s in the background We have got chrome book and we set screen time on it - for doing her homework or attending a lesson. It wasn’t an issue before cuz homework’s wasn’t too many and she was used to finish it off in few minutes now it’s a lot more ! Problem is even if delete all the games and only approve certain sites for - homeworks She still find a way to download them or even play on Google
Oh dear, it sounds like unfortunately your chickens have come home to roost then. I agree with @Karol your only solution at this point is to get rid of all screens in your home. No phones, tablets. TV or laptop. If she needs say a laptop to do homework, YOU are going to have to sit next to her and watch her do it. No matter how long it takes. You cannot make excuses, you absolutely have to start being the parent you should have been all those years ago when you let TV take over. Change the wi-fi password and go cold turkey. Not gonna lie, the next few years are going to be tough. But you cannot back down, because if you do, you’re going to be right back to square one. Why did you let her watch TV all day everyday from a young age? What was you doing instead of parenting her?
If she has to finish her homework, you should sit with her and the laptop and both do her homework. Why not get her to help you prepare dinner, eat dinner, do homework, shower and then have an hour tv / games before bed. You are the parent and she's only 10!
@Neena it wasn’t exactly everyday …. It was weekends During the week she has always been. V active goes to after school clubs …etc but weekends she is either TV or drawing …it wasn’t a problem before and was still managing to do homeworks and everything else
@Alice that’s what I said but what end up happening that she does her homework by the end of the day and no enough time to then watch TV so that’s why she sneak screen time while doing homework or having online lesson !
Btw she hasn’t been watch TV for last few weeks and she doesn’t have a tablet So only issue is now laptop which I can’t turn off cos she needs for homework
You need to just supervise her with the laptop at all times if that's the only screen. It's up to us as parents to set the boundaries and make sure they have a healthy relationship with screens. Everything about technology is meant to be addictive. Human brains aren't able to handle the dopamine influx of infinite scroll and many games. It's so easy for kids to fall prey to it!
We let my daughter have 1 hour to relax/ have snack/ screen time after school. Then it's done and homework/ chores until finished or dinner time. If she finished before dinner, then it's either part time or drawing - rarely another tv time until dinner when we watch a "family show" or a movie together. Once covid hit and i was still working, her dad started basically using tv as a babysitter because he SUCKS at keeping track of time, and he WFH. It's been a difficult challenge since then, but gotten much better. She still has fits about it occasionally. I would consider letting her have even 30 minutes after school, then supervise her doing homework... and weekend no more than 2 hours - let her know that this is a trial run and if she isn't doing better by xx date, then she will lose all screen time aside from supervised school work. STICK WITH IT - i agree with the others that it can get better over a couple years, but it's important to do it now, so she learns to be more responsible, gets her stuff done-
And still gets some time to have screens. I don't think cold turkey is the best bet, if you can try limitations like this first. But it is VERY important to stick it to a routine. My daughter is now good at settimg her timer most days to help regulate herself (that took time, she was not allowed to regular for herself for quite a while! Now we will check on her occasionally but most times she is following it)
@Ari sounds like a good idea basically doing the other way round allow 1/2 hr screen then homework 👍🏼
Can you afford to buy a used or cheap laptop she could use where she can't re download anything. Maybe you can factory reset the current laptop to delete all previous user history to avoid games being downloaded?
If the teacher is complaining, maybe ask if they have a paper/book alternative to the computer work, or if what your kid needs can be printed and handed in instead of completed online. Then, after you print the documents, you could put away the computer altogether.
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@Jesika that’s awesome idea I have forgotten about resetting it … I will do that
@Bonny they have a mixture of homework -online and hard copy too But they use laptops in class for tasks throughout lessons … she said she get distracted sometimes and look into screen while they are doing something else
You can literally change the WiFi password and remove internet access off the laptop so that she can do her homework but can’t download the apps. She’s 10, she doesn’t need the internet for most homework. If she does you can log on and sit with her while she does her home and then log out again so she can’t access the internet and play games. You just have to go cold turkey with this otherwise it’ll just keep getting worse. Also forgot to add you can log out of Google chrome apps page so that she can’t download anything cos nobody is logged in.
Problem is I can’t always sit with her while using the laptop cos her sister is a toddler so we can be noisy to her Hence why I got a Chromebook laptop so I have control over what she is doing Sounds like I will have to reset it to stop it from downloading games
@Jesika do u know if I reset everything could she still use parent passcode to access it and download games …etc?
What do you mean she was allowed to watch TV all day at weekends and even weekdays? Are you in separate households and this is what she’s allowed at the other parent’s house?