What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Kids cell phones - how do you control their screentime? (1 Viewer)

When the kids get home from school my/our kid(s)

  • hand them in until homework is done

    Votes: 1 5.3%

  • have them in until the following day

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • have free rein as long as their grades and chores are complete

    Votes: 15 78.9%

  • Have free rein to do whatever they want

    Votes: 2 10.5%

  • don’t have phones

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Total voters
    19
STEADYMOBBIN 22

STEADYMOBBIN 22

Footballguy
Curious how some of you handle your kids cell phone usage....

We need to cut back the usage of the phones in our house, myself included. Our two daughters are 13 & 15 and the wife and are wondering how other parents control the phone usage in your households. 

We take them away after school but inevitable they “need” their phone to complete homework or ask a friend about schoolwork.  :rolleyes:

Then that turns into a fight and we’re just trying to get them into better habits. We’re all guilty or at least I am of using our phones/tablets too much and we want to curtail their usage, specifically during the school year. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Free rein contingent upon behavior, grades, and chores.

edit: daughter (13) generally is very responsible and contentious. She just came off her first restriction (2 weeks- restricted hours in the day and earlier cutoff for bedtime) for some poor judgement/behavior.

she needs it so we can contact her throughout the day and homework.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
Our kids received phones when they turned 13. 

So for the purpose of this poll, 13-18?
Click to expand...
It's tough, like you said, they use it for homework.  My daughter spends pretty much all night on her phone.  But a lot of that time is doing her homework with friends or classmates.  I'd love to lock that phone up and have her not on it ever.  But her grades are great so it's hard to argue with her process.  #TrustTheProcess

 
We aren't there yet, but it's going to depend kid-to-kid. Am I correct to assume we'll have similar abilities with their phones as we do with their kindles? We can lock them until a certain time and/or when they've used it for X amount of time. We did this last year to each of them at different times due to excessive usage, but told them they can start fresh this year. Any problems and the controls go back on. They're 7 and 9.

Not sure if that helps you or not.

 
I have a 19-year-old senior in HS who is a little special needs. This summer, based on a couple of instances where he did himself harm, I had to remove his video game console and his laptop and severely curtail his phone usage. I factory reset the phone to get rid of snapchat, IG, discord, etc. and told him I'd be checking it to make sure they didn't get replaced. I replaced his apple ID with a new one that is a "child" account that I can lock up and restrict usage, if needed. It also has no payment options to make purchases. He gets his phone in the morning and gives it back when he gets home. If he needs it for homework, or handling business, he asks for it, then gives it back when he is done. I don't want it to be as harsh and draconian as it is, but that's how it needs to be with him.

I have a 10-year-old, also. He doesn't have a phone. He uses his mom's old phone and iPad, mostly for watching youtube. No access at all during the week, but starting Friday, I let him have free reign and limit himself, based on what we have going on. We put them up Sunday night a couple hours before shower/bedtime.

Phones/tablets/computers are addictive. The generation that are kids now are growing up attached to electronics almost 24/7. There are definitely pros and cons to it. My experience is that constantly being attached to electronics makes one detached, anti-social and passive. 

 
You can program your WiFi router to shut off at a certain hour.  You can download an app from your provider to control the phones of everyone in your plan. 

 
i think it is very context-dependent, though would always skew toward more restrictions, not less, though once the genie is out of the bottle, it's really hard to put back in.

i would say that the number 1 thing is to limit social media time via app.

 
It's a challenge. My 14 year old is on her phone all the time. She has an iPhone and I have an iPad so I set it up for screen time where it shuts down overnight but we're very lenient. Even then she stays up late, as do I, and she begs for more screen time. I also downloaded an app from Cox when I upgraded my modem and I have control of wifi for all devices. I set up and down times there as well.

 
tommyboy said:
You can program your WiFi router to shut off at a certain hour.  You can download an app from your provider to control the phones of everyone in your plan. 
Click to expand...
I'm always confused by this.  I see the Xfinity commercials where they say you can pause the wireless.  I'm assuming all that will do is make my cell phone bill higher because no one will stop using the internet.  They'll just be on the cellular network and not the wifi network.

 
Son is 14.  He can check his phone in the morning after he's done getting ready, walked the dog, etc.  We let him chill with the phone a little bit when he gets home from school/practice in the evenings, and a bit more whenever he's done with homework and whatever chores he has.  We use Quostudio to monitor his phone, set daily usage limits (3 hours during the week while in school, 4 hours on weekends), and restricted times (phone locked from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.)  He does not need it for homework or anything relating to school as far as I know.  His school does not allow phones in class or anywhere as far as I know, but he will send us a text when he's ready to be picked up after practice in the evenings.  No phone or any other screens in his bedroom. 

Its a big issue for many of my friends.  Seemingly all parents are dealing with their kids' using phones and devices in one way or another.  My opinion is there is no right or wrong, we're all just trying to do the best we can, not kill them if possible, and maintain some small amount of sanity.  Saw this in the Atlantic yesterday: I Won’t Buy My Teenagers Smartphones

 
Last edited by a moderator:
TheIronSheik said:
I'm always confused by this.  I see the Xfinity commercials where they say you can pause the wireless.  I'm assuming all that will do is make my cell phone bill higher because no one will stop using the internet.  They'll just be on the cellular network and not the wifi network.
Click to expand...
hook up a laptop to your wife router and follow the router instructions to set time restraints.  You can find the router instructions online for whatever model you have, usually you just type a number into your browser and it takes you to the setup menu for that router your are connected to.

as for Xfinity-  contact them or go into the store and get an app installed that allows you to turn off the data connection for each phone.

so now you have control of all wifi and the over the air data connection-   you can basically brick their phones during whatever time periods you choose

 
to clarify on the 2nd step-  contact whoever your phone provider is.   could be AT & T,   T mobile, verizon   etc. 

 
Started at a new school this year and good god are the phones an issue. The last HS I was at had a much stricter culture and while kids used their phones, they were mostly disciplined and respectful with it. The new school (which is much more affluent) is a free for all. Kids just watching movies in class and teachers not doing too much about it.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ministry of Pain
  • Poll
What's Normal? - Do you work at home in 2024?
2
Replies
96
Views
2K
supermike80
supermike80
Lehigh98
The Battle Against Teens and Screens
Replies
17
Views
764
Jayrod
Jayrod
Ministry of Pain
These Drug Commercials are OUT of CONTROL!!!
2 3
Replies
122
Views
4K
jhib
jhib

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top