How to wean a child from a computer – 15 surefire ways to a parent’s piggy bank

The problem of computer addiction among our children is breaking all records today. Both teenagers and toddlers – children are instantly immersed in virtual reality, replacing ordinary life. Considering the harm that “virtual” does to health, and especially to the child’s psyche, the time of using a PC should be strictly limited by parents. The information that the child receives from the monitor screen is also subject to control. How to deal with this addiction in children?

The content of the article:

How to distract a preschooler from the computer – 5 parenting tricks.

For a preschooler, the time allowed for playing at the computer is limited 15 minutes (nonstop). “Monitor time” (like TV) – onlyo in strictly metered “portions”. With the replacement of the real world with the virtual one, there is also a replacement of values: the need for live communication, in getting pleasure from life in a natural way, dies away. Ability is lost to think, health deteriorates, character deteriorates. What to do and how to distract your preschooler from the monitor?

• Remove computer and get it only at the time strictly determined by the mother. Put restrictions on access to “adult” sites, and control games for their benefit to the child.
• Communicate with your child. No computer can replace communication with mom and dad. Regardless of work, employment, problems and undercooked borscht – be near your child. Of course, it’s great when you can relax and take care of yourself by handing your child a laptop – “just don’t bother”, but over time, the child will simply no longer need parents, because the virtual world will overwhelm him with all its depth and “brightness” of impressions.
• Play with your child. Of course, in a strictly allotted time, but together. Look in advance for a game that will be useful for the development of the child, and spend time usefully.
• Hide your computer for a couple of days and take this time with picnics in nature with searches for hidden “treasure”, interesting entertainment in the city and home evenings with “Lego”, watching good films, making kites, etc. Show your child that the world without a computer is much more interesting.
• Take your baby to the “circle”. Choose a circle in which the kid will run every day, forgetting not only about the PC, but also about you. Daily communication with peers and a teacher, new knowledge and positive emotions will gradually displace the computer from the child’s life.

Do not speak to the kid – “this game is bad, close the laptop!”. Speak – “Bunny, let me show you a more interesting game.” Or “baby, shouldn’t we make a hare for daddy’s arrival?” Be smarter. A ban will always provoke a protest. There is no need to drag your child away from the computer by the ears – just replace the computer with yourself.

How to drag a primary school child away from the computer – we show wonders of ingenuity and initiative

For the “treatment” of addiction of a younger student, the advice will remain the same. True, given older age, you can slightly supplement them with several recommendations:

• Establish a few daily traditions. For example, during meals – no TVs and telephones-computers at the table. Make sure to cook family dinner together – with serving, interesting dishes and creating a pleasant atmosphere. Let the child take part in this. It is enough to captivate him, and then – consider that for 2-3 evening hours the child has been won back from the Internet by you. After dinner, a walk. You can collect leaves for a herbarium, sculpt snowmen, play football, roller-skate, ride bicycles, or paint landscapes from life. The main thing is to evoke positive emotions in the child. Positive adrenaline is like a drug.
• Show your child on fingers how much time he is wasting. Write it down on paper, draw a diagram – “this is how long you spent at your laptop this year, but you could have already learned to play the guitar (become a champion in some sport, grow a garden, etc.). confirm your willingness to help the child in this by your actions – write him down to the sports section, buy a guitar, donate a camera and study together the art of photography, dig a wood burner on the mezzanine, etc.
• Take your child out of town as often as possible. Look for interesting and safe ways of recreation – catamarans, mountain trails, horseback riding, traveling, cycling from city to city with overnight stays in tents, etc. Show your child the reality “offline” – exciting, interesting, with a lot of impressions and memories.
• Every child has a dream. “Mom, I want to be an artist!” “Go ahead,” answer mom and buys felt-tip pens for her son. But you can give your child a real chance – to try your hand at this. To arrange a child in an art school or hire a teacher, invest in paints, brushes and easels, and achieve regularity of classes. Yes, you will spend a lot of time, but the child will sit over the canvas together with the computer, and there is no need to talk about the benefits of this event. If in a year the child gets tired of these arts – look for a new dream, and again into battle!
• The radical method: turn off the internet in the house. Keep the modem for yourself, but turn it on only when the child is busy with his own business. And the Internet is banned. Instead, everything listed above.

And remember that personal example always and in everything more effective educational conversation, screaming and radical methods. As much as you would like to “sit in VK”, “like” new photos of your girlfriend or download a brand new melodrama, leave computer “sessions” for yourself late in the evening when the child is already asleep. By example provethat life is beautiful even without online.

How to wean a teenager from a computer – important tips for parents to prevent computer addiction in children

Fighting computer addiction in a teenage child is the most difficult:

• Firstly, You can’t turn off the Internet and you can’t hide your laptop.
• Secondly, study today also involves tasks on a PC…
• Thirdly, It is impossible to distract a child in adolescence with a constructor and playing snowballs. How to be?

• Do not prohibit the Internet, do not hide the computer on the closet – let the child be an adult. But control the process. Block all unreliable sites, install filters for viruses and to access those resources where the teenager has nothing to do due to the still unstable psyche and exposure to outside influence. Make sure that the time on the PC is used profitably – learning new programs, mastering Photoshop, drawing, making music, etc. Take your child to courses so that he wants to practice his skills at home, and not spend hours on social networks.
• Sports, sections, etc. The pleasure that a child gets from sports, dancing and other outdoor activities cannot be compared with the joy of another “like” or “party” in shooting games. Do you like to shoot on the Internet? Take him to the appropriate section – let him shoot at a shooting range or paintball. Want to box? Give it to the box. Does your daughter dream of dancing? Buy her a suit and send her wherever she wants. Is the child embarrassed to communicate in real life? Is he a daring super-hero in virtual? Take him to the training, where they will help to educate a confident strong person.
• Become your child’s friend. At this age, the commanding tone and belt are not helpers. Now the child needs a friend. Listen to your child and participate in his life. Take an interest in his desires and problems – it is in them that you will find all the answers to the question “how to distract …”.
• Give your child gym or fitness passes, tickets to a concert or vouchers to youth recreation camps. Constantly look for ways – to keep your teenager engaged in a real interesting activity that will be both useful and emotionally intense. Proceed from what your child lacks, from what exactly he runs to the Internet. It is possible that he is simply bored. This is the easiest option (it won’t be difficult to find an alternative). It is much more difficult if the escape from boredom into “virtual” has grown into a serious addiction. You will have to work hard here, because the moment has already been missed.
• Self-realization. Now is the time to deeply and completely immerse yourself in that sphere of interest that has probably already stuck in the child’s head. Until adulthood – quite a bit. If the child has already found himself, but does not have the opportunity to develop in the chosen direction, give him this opportunity. Support morally and financially.

How do you cope with computer addiction in a child? Share your experience with us!