Our 10 year old can be very sneaky, particularly with screens. They get screentime, but they don’t think it’s enough.
This has lately resulted in sneaking acreentime & I’m at my wits end. If I say I’m unhappy & punish them, it makes no difference. If I say I’m unhappy but don’t punish, it makes no difference. If I yell, no difference.
I’m out of ideas of how to manage it & would appreciate advice from anyone who’s dealt with the same, either parents or kids perspective.
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Just take it away. I do content moderation rather than time management. But my oldest has gotten sneaky with content before. Now she doesn’t get the screen at all. She’s not happy about it. I suspect that when I allow them back after a long break, she won’t play games with me about what I specifically said wasn’t allowed. Because she now knows the consequences. If she can’t handle it responsibly, she doesn’t get it at all. Easy squeeze to understand that and doesn’t require me to be upset or anything. I don’t care if she can use the tablet or not. That’s purely a choice she makes by following the rules.
Have you tried talking to them about why they’re doing this? Just a frank, “We know you sneak extra screen time. You’re not in trouble we just need to understand why so we can fix this.” You can also explain like why screen time needs to be limited etc.
Maybe your kid is bored/frustrated. Do they have other things to even do? Have you re-assessed his screen time allowance as he is aging up?
I mean, this is pretty normal kid behaviour at the end of the day. I’m not actually sure why you’re surprised. Screen time is a hot commodity (clearly), your kid gets dopamine/stimulation from it, they know by asking they won’t get their way, it’s a recipe for disaster.