Anonymous wrote:Aside from sports and HW she mostly watches Netflix. She gets good grades so I’m okay with it. I used to watch Saved By the Bell marathons on TBS.

Ha! Me too!

Read, eat a snack, do homework, play some video games, complete things he needs to for Scouts, and learn how to deal with being bored. Normally he has a rec sport, Scouts, and after school clubs but he decided to not play a winter sport so has a few days when he gets home right after school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should be doing homework in MS.

Public middle schools do not give homework. Maybe some kids have unfinished classwork because they goofed off or didn’t understand, but otherwise there is no HW beyond reviewing for tests.

+1 and some neighbors have kids in private with little homework beyond studying for tests. Maybe this is how things are now until you get to 7th or 8th?

Ride bikes, go hiking with you, play a board game with sibling or parent, read a book, write a story, build with legos, bake brownies, help cook dinner.

DS is in 6th and on the rare days he's home right after school he will have a snack, do homework, either go for a run or Peloton (weather dependent) and then usually do legos or read. Honestly we are lucky that he does most of this on his own. He's allowed video games or tv, but typically not until after dinner.

Anonymous wrote:They should be doing homework in MS.

No, they can have it in HS. But, if they do have it in MS, not alot, they still need to be kids.

Anonymous wrote:They should be doing homework in MS.

Public middle schools do not give homework. Maybe some kids have unfinished classwork because they goofed off or didn’t understand, but otherwise there is no HW beyond reviewing for tests.

They should be doing homework in MS.

My MS kid would go swimming with her dad or jogging on treadmill in basement, but seldomly has time since there’s always tons of homework.

Gaming online with friends was one for sure. He also walked our dogs after school as well - that was a help to get him off the screen and out and about on the days he didn't have sports stuff.

I say let him play video games in his down days. It’s how they relax and blow off steam, and socialize.

Of course set limits if you feel he’d be playing from the time he goes home until he goes to bed. Maybe a couple of hours or something like that.

6:14 and sorry, I saw you asked about boys. I recently had a boy in MS too. He was similar by going to a bunch of sports practices, tournaments and then playing video games. Those were his main social life in MS.

Tries to go to Starbucks with friends. She can’t do this every day and there isn’t that much hw so Netflix and a lot of FaceTiming friends, which is the equivalent of your video games. She has a a lot of physical activity between practice and weekend tournaments. I’m not worried about screen time anymore. Grades are good and she is social IRL.

Plays with other kids outside. Plays with siblings. Cooks/bakes. Plays instrument. Hangs out with us while we work or run errands.

One of my kids has almost no free time, the other plays video games while talking to friends.

If having your kid watch screens at home is bugging you, do you live near a rock climbing gym? there are always lots of kids hanging out there - it is a great sport for middle schoolers and does not require a big commitment.