limit of 2.5 hours - any screen time - not just video games but tv, etc. Usually doesn't get used however due to other activities - sports, hiking, classes, church.

No more than an hour at a time and at least an hour active play in between sessions...generally no more than 2 hours a day. Very very rarely more maybe 4 times a year. The less the better and we are constantly striving to move kids away from screens and towards healthier alternatives. It doesn't just take effort on the kids part.. It also takes effort on the parents part to get active and come up with fun things to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No limits here for 12 and 10 yo girls. Although sometimes I get fed up with it if they're hibernating with the damn things and make them turn them off. It's arbitrary.

But like other pps, they really don't have time to waste on them during the week, so I try to relax if they want to spend their Saturday mornings entirely online. When I was kid, I did that too -- only the screen I looked at was downstairs in the family room and broadcast Scooby Doo, Smurfs, and Masters of the Universe.

This, it really depends on what else is being done. As long as there is plenty of free time that isn't tech related then you are fine IMO

Agree completely.

No limits ever, but obligations, including to their own health (including sufficient sleep) must be met first.

No set limits on weekends but homework must be done first. If the family is going out for an activity the computers will be shut off. If we just feel it's been a long time we'll shut it down for a while.

We generally let them develop their own judgement. We won't be around forever to monitor them.

Instead of a quota, the screen is off limits in our house between 10 and dinnertime on weekends. So much easier to enforce. During the day, they have sports, do homework and music practice, and read a book or find a friend to hang out with if they are bored. Some weekends our 12 year old is on the screen every minute he is allowed, but others he is into a book or wants to hang out with friends and might only fit in an hour or two. It works for us.

our kids (7th and 5th grades) get almost no screen time on weekends (except for the homework they need to do on the computer). Oh, well, we often watch a movie or foreign language show together one of the weekend evenings. And sometimes on the other weekend night, the kids can watch whatever they want (often youtube, and so far they don't seek out anything we'd have issues with) while my husband and I watch something on the TV.

Sometimes they ask for computer play time. I usually make a condition that half of the time needs to be either a learning-to-touch-type website or a math games website. They still think those are kind of fun, so they don't complain. Total time (if that happens) is less than an hour. I feel strongly about kids needing to be outside. Also needing time to be alone with their thoughts, which doesn't happen when at the computer.

12-year-old boy here. We don't have strict limits on the weekends, but if a couple of hours have passed then I do make him do other things. He is also very busy during the week with school and sports, and on the weekends with sports at least one of the days, so I try and cut him a little slack. I'd personally rather have his friends come over and use the electronics with him than have him on there all alone for hours.

My early teen kids don't have a lot of down time. School work and sports dominate the school week. They have games or scouting on the weekend. When they have downtime, they can watch tv and play video games. It is relaxing to them. My son enjoys his video games and I can tell it is a natural stress reliever. My daughter enjoys the mindless shows on Netflix like Tanked, Say Yes to the Dress and Dancing Dolls. After a long day at work, I enjoy reading some of the informative and silly posts on DCUM. it's all relative and there are bigger things to stress out about.

Anonymous wrote:No limits here for 12 and 10 yo girls. Although sometimes I get fed up with it if they're hibernating with the damn things and make them turn them off. It's arbitrary.

But like other pps, they really don't have time to waste on them during the week, so I try to relax if they want to spend their Saturday mornings entirely online. When I was kid, I did that too -- only the screen I looked at was downstairs in the family room and broadcast Scooby Doo, Smurfs, and Masters of the Universe.

This, it really depends on what else is being done. As long as there is plenty of free time that isn't tech related then you are fine IMO

Anonymous wrote:We instituted no screens on schooldays for our 2 boys (age 11yo and 6yo) this fall. Honestly, it's been hell, and they literally run down the street to turn on a machine on Friday afternoon. They spend less time outside now, in part because their regular neighborhood playmates moved away around the same time. My kids have multiple weekend activities (religious school, soccer, tennis, a playdate) but I hate that the weekends have become all about the screen. And I hate that they moan nonstop during weekdays. I wish I had a better solution...

Tell them if they complain they lose weekend screen time. Then carry out the threat.

We cut off all screen time (no TV/computer/games, etc.) during the week @3 years ago. They complained for a couple weeks but we didn't budge. Now they don't think anything of it. Weekend screen time isn't a big deal either, though we let them do some on mornings Sat/Sun, because it's just not a part of their day to day lives anymore. Helps that we -- mom and dad -- don't watch much either.

Mine are 13 and 11 and get 2 hours per day on weekends, plus more if they have a friend over to play with. M-F we do between 30 min to 1 hour. One of my kids would choose to play outside instead of video games. My other child sounds more like your kid, op, and he is just so into video games that I worry that I shouldn't allow it as much. But mine don't do any other screen time besides video games.

We instituted no screens on schooldays for our 2 boys (age 11yo and 6yo) this fall. Honestly, it's been hell, and they literally run down the street to turn on a machine on Friday afternoon. They spend less time outside now, in part because their regular neighborhood playmates moved away around the same time. My kids have multiple weekend activities (religious school, soccer, tennis, a playdate) but I hate that the weekends have become all about the screen. And I hate that they moan nonstop during weekdays. I wish I had a better solution...