{"id":7288,"date":"2013-09-07T07:45:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T12:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/?p=7288"},"modified":"2026-02-28T08:19:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:19:30","slug":"ditching-computer-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flandersfamily.info\/web\/2013\/09\/07\/ditching-computer-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Ditching Computer Games in Favor of Books"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Raising<\/a>
\nI don’t know about the kids at your house, but we have a couple of children who would spend 24 hours a day in front of a computer screen if we’d let them.<\/strong> We’ve tried restrictions (no computer time until homework’s done), rationing (only 15 minutes per day), and relegating it to non-primetime hours (weekends only, after family time). <\/p>\n

These measures have helped, but only to a point. The kids cooperated (albeit sometimes begrudgingly), but still spent an inordinate amount of time begging, pleading, or just *waiting* until they could get back online again.<\/p>\n

Not exactly the productive use of time we were hoping for.<\/p>\n

But now their attitudes have changed, and the transformation has been nothing short of spectacular. It all started when my husband suggested we link computer privileges to reading time<\/strong>. That prompted me to create this little chart<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Raising<\/a><\/p>\n

And we’ve been using it ever since. <\/p>\n

Our kids love this system, because (1) they can potentially earn a whole lot more computer time than the 15 minutes\/day they used to get, (2) they can redeem their minutes anytime they want provided their chores and homework are finished, and (3) we’ve added a few variations and bonus incentives that make it even more fun and effective (which I’ll explain below).<\/p>\n

Mom and Dad love this system, because (1) our kids have stopped begging for more computer time, (2) they are choosing to read for pleasure without our having to coax and cajole, (3) they think twice about redeeming computer time frivolously, preferring instead to save it up for more important stuff, and (4) we wake up to a tidier house, as they lose 2 minutes of computer time (rounded to the nearest 5-minute increment) for every item they leave out overnight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The chart can be used exactly as printed, but we’ve tweaked it a bit to better suit our family by adding the following guidelines (in addition to the 2-minute charge for clutter):<\/p>\n