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Friday, 02 May 2008 15:01 |
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Hey Parents! I hate to tell you, but there is no such thing as
“useful instant messaging”. Your crafty child might try to take
advantage of your lack of “Techie” know how when they say in
that whiney voice... “But Mom I’m IMing my friends about
homework.” Don’t buy it! They are simply playing up the school
is important bit so they can get you off their back.
To be fair, yes kids might spend a couple minutes discussing
their school assignments. But for every 30 seconds of actual
work, another 30 minutes are lost in useless chatter with the
hundred or so “friends” on their buddy list! And if your child
consistently pulls the “I didn’t know the assignment” excuse,
then bigger school problems than instant messaging are on the
horizon.
You can easily stop the hours upon hours of instant messaging
with one simple gesture… PULL THE PLUG! Now, I don’t really mean
to literally pull the plug out of the computer on your child.
The last thing we want to do is get into a power struggle with
your child, or break your $1500 computer.
No, what I mean is simply lay down the law. Allocate a specific
period of instant messaging time per day. One hour of IMing is
not going to kill anyone or their social life. And in that one
hour time slot they will have plenty of time to discuss
homework, their teacher, the new kid in class, or whatever.
Right now you might be saying, “That sounds great Chris, but
what happens when my kid refuses to adhere to the allotted
time?” When your child disregards your house rules it simply
means they have too much free time on their hands. We all know
that idleness is the devil’s playground. It might be time to up
their chore responsibilities. Or sign them up for an after
school art class or even a sport or karate. Sometimes the best
answer is to simply spend some quality time with them. Set up a
time each day to play scrabble, take a walk or cook something
together. It really doesn’t matter what it is, just play to your
kids interests and keep them busy.
The internet is a great tool, especially when it comes to
education and homework. In the future we can expect to see an
even greater merger of it with our every day lives. However,
right now it’s the great stealer of time. Getting sidetracked is
very easy, (as some of you might know) and with the media
induced, shortened attention spans of our children, whole young
lives could waste away online. Teach your kids to use the
Internet and Instant Messaging as intended. Sometimes we use it
for work; sometimes we use it for play. Just be sure your kids
know the difference between the two.
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Chris Pizzo is the President of Noble Learning Systems Inc. and
the developer of the NEW “Amazing Homework Motivator” program.
Why are thousands of kids happily sitting down to do their
homework each and every night?...Without a fight, an argument,
or even a reminder? Click here now ==> www.HomeworkMotivator.com
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