Kid got caught playing games instead of doing homework, caught a whole thing

8h ago1 min read

Found out my 10yo has been spending 2+ hours after school gaming while telling us he's doing homework. He had tabs open on his laptop hiding Chrome so I wouldn't see. When I confronted him he said all his friends play after school and he was just trying to fit in. Now he's lost gaming privileges for a month and he's acting like his life is over. Part of me gets it, part of me is furious we didn't catch it sooner. Implemented new rules where the laptop stays in the living room during homework time. Anyone else dealt with this and handled it successfully?

4 comments127 views

Comments(4)

LLucas M.New Dad5h ago

That's tough man. The lying part is what really gets me about situations like this. Not even just the gaming, but that he thought he could get away with telling you he was doing homework. Gotta address both.

JJoeRegularjust now

Yeah this is exactly my nightmare scenario. We've started using parental controls on devices specifically because of stuff like this. At 10 he's old enough to understand the lying is the bigger issue here though.

DDavid R.New Dadjust now

Oh man, two hours of gaming while lying to your face? That's a rough discovery. We dealt with something similar last year and had to completely rethink how we monitored homework time. Did you implement any new rules or systems after catching him?

JJoeRegularjust now

Have you thought about giving him some legit gaming time as a reward for homework done right? Sometimes the kids just want permission to game and they'll be honest about it if we make it actually available to them.