<p>My son a very strong willed soph, lately has been spending alot of time IMing friends, or discussing issues on school forums.... He really enjoys communication with friends and classmates. But he will spends hours on the computer!!! Yeah, he wastes time on computer games too, his form of "relaxation" ... Unfortunately, he sometimes won't start his homework until 11pm, and finish by 2am...then up at 6am for zero period. Occasionally he will be finishing his last math problem as we are rushing out the door for the morning carpool.... Somehow he has managed to keep his grades up, but barely.... I am concerned about his poor study habits, and lack of sleep. My husband says that he "owns" his time, and at 16 should be responsible enough to do his homework, without any parental interference....I think lack of sleep is unhealthy, a couple of times he feel asleep in class. Should I lock the computer, until he finishes his homework? I don't want to treat him like a child.....Help. I am losing sleep over this.</p>
<p>Recent research has suggested that the 2 disciplinary approaches that are most likely to affect behavior in teenagers are restriction of computer privileges and taking away their cellphones. Yes, your child sounds inordinately "addicted" to his computer. This happened to my D in her freshman year. First, we moved the computer to the family room so we could monitor her use. Then we curtailed all computer use except that monitored by us for doing homework for a week. She quickly turned around and, now, as a rising senior, waits for IMing, etc until AFTER all the homework is done...she self-regulates. We don't have to.</p>
<p>Does he respond to health risks? Chronically sleep-deprived people are riding for a fall. The immune sytem gets depressed and it's only a matter of time before he gets taken down by a bad case of the flu or a cough that gets worse and worse and won't away.</p>
<p>We've had a big problem with our son playing computer games until late at night. Not wanting to get off because he was in the middle of "a raid" or something and if his character wasn't there they would somehow lose. We finally got a lock that turns off just the internet at the time we choose. Right now that's 10 pm Sun - Thur nights and midnight on Friday and Saturday. The one problem with that is that my husband and I are also kicked off the internet from any of our other computers at 10:00. oh, well 21 days until the school year is over.</p>
<p>Same with D. We did not let her watch TV on school night so now she's IMing, talking on cell phone non-stop. The more time we give our kids for relaxation, the more they play games on the computer. Cell phone is somewhat of a mistake despite it's obvious usefulness, her friends do abuse it, calling non-stop, every 10 -15 minutes, very distracting! OK, Enough ranting and raving for one day.</p>
<p>The falling asleep in class is pretty funny as well as a warning sign!!!
While sixteen is mature to a degree, they are still under your roof... you are right mom, you can set some boundaries. if child is doing computer games and not sleeping they aren't take care of themselves, and maybe not using the best judgement of time and health. Its okay to step in a little, I think. </p>
<p>Is son driving? Doing sports? Also, tired kids are more likely to get sick-strep, the flu. Also if tired driving, reflexes aren't so quick. Those would be big concerns for me.</p>
<p>Good luck!!!</p>