There is a war going on in many homes today. This war involves our children and their addiction to ipads, smart phones, kindles, Xboxes, and computers.
Your house may not be afflicted yet, but it could be on your horizon. Below are the signs and some tactics to battle the E-WAR. Beware electronic gadgets!
Signs of the Electonicitis in your Child:
- Sneaky Behavior: Gadgets are on the kitchen counter 1 minute and the next minute they are found in you 10-year-old’s room. Child may be using kindle to read but also may be using it to game and watch you-tube videos. Yes, there are passwords to restrict activities, but some of these kids are pretty savvy hackers. My own son figured out my pw in about 15 minutes!
- “Free Games”- be wary of these so called free games that now involve constant $ value upgrades that your child will beg for on a continuous basis in order to achieve the next level. I know of a few moms who have had some nasty surprises on their itunes and Amazon accounts after their child gained password access and purchased upgrades to these so called “free games”.
- Playdates that involve 90% screen time and staring at e-devices. I tend to unplug and remove devices so that the forbidden fruit is not in their vicinity.
Steps to Curb Electronicitis:
- Be firm with time limits- All kids will say “Mom, I need another 5 minutes to save a level in the video game ” An hour will have passed if you don’t enforce the time limits.
- If lying or sneakiness is involved, remove all electronics from child. I mean physically take laptops, xboxs, and smart phones out of the room to your bedroom or other hiding spot. The other option is locking the items in a foot locker so punishment is a visible form of being “locked out of e-devices”.
- Create a tough password and don’t share it with your child. If your child has abused an itunes or amazon account, make them pay for the damage. Buying Dragonvale jewels for $49.99 doesn’t seem so great when it involves a real Benjamin Franklin bill.
Love the article Marina! I know all too well what you are writing about! I am living the nightmare! Especially this summer – ugh! I can also be another booming warning voice about protecting passwords on iTunes! Moreover, be careful if you provide your password to your child for gems, coins etc. legit in a game – they can go in and purchase another pack immediately and just “confirm” the purchase without the password. I found this out the hard way – $$$$!
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