Sylvan has been getting very stubborn about leaving the computer or television. short of picking him up and carrying him away, he refuses to stop when I ask him to. I don't like this being a confrontation all the time. I should have to tell my 7 year old what to do and have to carry him away. What can I do?

Have you tried taking away priveleges? "If you don't leave the computer/TV now, you won't use the computer/watch some favorite program on the TV tomorrow." Of course, this would be a committment to follow through because Sylvan would probably behave badly during the time he would normally be using the computer/TV out of anger.

Next time don't 'ask' him to turn them off, but instead just politely 'tell' him that you are ready to turn them off yourself.

You could try a 'timer', Sher. Some kids would find that fun. Put an alarm clock or some sort of 'timer' sitting next to him, set to go off when you want him away from the TV. This way, he may see it as more of a game then someone taking something away from him. Even let him set the timer if he wants. When it goes off, he knows it's time for the TV to go off and maybe he can have a treat or something at that time.

Puppy has a great idea. Timers work great!

With my kids we use timers for everything. TV, computer, sharing toys,.....It took about a week for them to get used to it but after that we haven't had a problem. We also use tickets for the TV, playstation, and computer. Each day they get 4 tickets that buy them 15 minutes on the computer or playstation, and 3 TV tickets worth 1/2 hour each. Most times they have tickets left over. This really helps end a lot of fighting in my house.

Twinhearts

what a great idea, twinhearts!

I have a BIG problem getting my kids, ages 9 and 11 to do anything around the house, because of the tv and puter. they are just as addicted to those as I am to the internet, which is getting to be really bad. When they do get either one, there is usually fighting over tv shows, time on puter, etc. We do use a timer, for puter use, and most of the time it works. Think I'll start using the ticket system when they do their chores. Might help me out with being able to see floors in their rooms

Hi ladykc1997

welcome to AnswerPool

Thank you piggins, enjoying it here so far, getting some great ideas, for problems I'm dealing with here at home! Interesting, hearing all the different opinions, and ideas. Makes a person really think.

I used a timer with my son but he always managed to restart it a little right before it was time to go off. Keep an eye on that!