Limit Kids Computer Use With Productive Time Management

The total time the average kid spends on the computer has increased 22% since 2003 with 25% or our children spending 3 or more hours on the computer a day. This time is spent playing games and interacting with online social groups in the absence of a parent. More and more parents are recognizing the need to monitor their children's time online AND their leisure time offline. Where can parents turn to find their solution?

Most internet providers include an option for online parental controls, but lets face it, even when these controls do work properly they are restricted to online control only. What about offline usage as well?

In our home I am equally concerned with how much time my children spend on the computer playing games and creating power point presentations as I am with accessing the internet. I want my children to develop constructive computer use habits and learn how to manage their time more wisely.

As a homeschooling parent I put a lot of emphasis in active learning and expect my children to spend their hours after school in a manner that is conducive to this learning style. We have a large selection of books to read and encourage our children to take advantage of them. We make regular trips to the library and provide a means for our children to spend time outside. With all this available to them the daunting video games call them continually.

Video games, television and computer usage are notorious for passive usage of the brain and as a result needs to be limited, but with the constant temptation to play them how are parents to limit their usage?

While most parents would agree that computer use should be limited the solution is not always easy to come by. In todays hectic routines and dual income households many parents face the challenge of limiting their child's computer use and taking advantage of the internet providers online controls is only part of the solution. For complete control they need an all encompassing software that includes both online and offline parental controls.

As one of those busy parents I was thrilled to find a software program that allowed me to be in charge of my children's time on the computer that did not require me to constantly watch the clock and announce "5 minutes left" every time they were on. The Kids Watch software let me set time limits for online access AND offline, making my task of teaching my children constructive time management a whole lot easier.