My 10 and 7 year old are doing like 2-3 hours of homework on the computer now plus wanting to play games after. I limit it but some nights we're hitting 4-5 hours total screen time and I feel like I'm failing. Teachers say it's normal, wife says I'm overthinking it, but I remember we were supposed to keep it under 2 hours. Anyone else dealing with this? How are you handling it?
Yeah we're dealing with the same thing. 2-3 hours of screen time for homework is brutal. We've had to set hard cutoff times after the assignments are done because otherwise they want to keep going with games. Have you tried setting a daily limit they know about in advance?
Get them outside for at least 30 minutes after school before any gaming happens. Trust me on this one.
Yeah, this is the reality nobody talks about. 2-3 hours of homework on a screen then they want to game for another hour or two. I'm dealing with the exact same thing with my 10 year old. It's brutal trying to convince them the screen time needs limits when half their schoolwork requires it.
Have you tried doing outdoor stuff right after school before the homework even happens? Get them tired out and they're less interested in screen time. Not a perfect solution but it helps with my crew.
The homework part is the killer because you can't really argue with it. But for the gaming part after, maybe try establishing a hard cutoff time? My kids know after 7pm on school nights the devices are done. Takes some pushback but they adjust.
This is the exact battle I'm fighting right now. The schools basically require the screen time for assignments but then parents get blamed for screen time being too high. It's a catch-22.
That's the tough part about school going digital. When I was a kid homework meant pencil and paper. Now it's all on a screen and then they want to game right after. The eye strain alone has me worried.
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This is the digital parenting nightmare right there. School sends them to the screen for homework and then they're exhausted but wired at the same time. We've started doing outdoor stuff right after homework to get them unplugged.