Year 11’s, Exams and Gaming !

[mumma24]

Interested to know how you deal with this.

1. allow them to play as much as they like even into the early hours.
2. try and restrict them to up to 5 hours a day
3. allow then to play at weekends only
4. no gaming after a certain time.
5. remove the console during mocks and exams for a couple of month to allow them to concentrate on revision
6. something else

In our house, there is no gaming during the week and there need to be balance between screens and study/ reading time so you can watch two hours of netflix if you have done two hours of studying, writing revision sheets. It comes to ink flow in our case, not just staring at a book.
All screens disappear between 9.30-10pm, no screen in the morning.

I’ve tried that with my son but it’s just not working so now i have removed his PlayStation . Sounds like you have the balance right

I would suggest a combination of 3,4 and 5!

@KingIrving

That sounds like a very sensible policy! DS is in year 11 and we are having a similar issue with too much Netflix/gaming and not enough revision. How much revision do you expect your DC to do per evening to be allowed screen time? Also, do you enforce the 'balance' rule at weekends also, so if they want to game for 4 hours, they need to do 4 hours studying?

The balance is about everything. Studying, screens and social life. IT is not an exact verified time keeping, say 4 hours = 4 hours, it can be a bit less or a bit more.

The problem with screen is the time it takes away from everything else, including reading for pleasure, friends and girlfriend and of course schoolwork.

Removing completely has been in my experience counterproductive because DS would be sulking and not doing anything, just starring at the ceiling hating me.

I make it sound easy and simple but it is not. I had to raise my voice, and be strict.In the weekend, it is study first, screen later because studies have shown that gaming has an effect on the concentration abilities so if possible, avoid them before the study time.

@KingIrving

How long do you expect your DS to study for during the week and at weekends?

Well, it depends. Studying and revising need to fit a purpose. At the beginning of the term (we are in Australia), there are no assessment or assignment, so it is mainly homework and revising what has been done in class, but this changes once you need to prepare for a test or write a paper.
It is not studying for the sake of studying, this has no sense. Work isn't done in the bedroom but in a room we transformed in study. Bedroom is to relax and chill.
More than studying according to a clock, it is based on topics, points. But to give you an indication, roughly a couple of hours/day, more on weekend if there is an assessment or an assignment due the following week.