In my work, I meet a lot of children who have, for lack of better terms, become addicted to their devices, be they telephones, tablets or video games or televisions in their bedrooms. I recently met one young man who admitted to playing video games for five hours after school every day. His mother had become concerned because her son was playing video games instead of completing homework and now was falling behind in school.

I actually see this kind of thing quite often. I must confess, I am not a parent. However, it seems to me that many parents these days allow their children to use devices at ever younger ages. Whether that is good or bad, I am not sure. What does seem troublesome though, is the amount of time per day children are allowed to use these devices. I am seeing children being permitted to use these devices for hours upon hours per day. The use of telephones, tablets, video games and televisions can become addictions even in children. Parents, you have the right to limit the amount of time your children use these items. In fact, you should be doing so. No child should be using any of these sorts of devices for four or five hours per day.

What I see often in my work is parents who have allowed their children to use these devices for hours upon hours and now the child has become addicted to their use and the parent now is concerned. Once this happens, the parents try to take these devices away from the child and the child throws a tantrum, sometimes actually becoming violent toward the parents. This is unacceptable. Parents, you have the right to set boundaries with your children and to enforce time away from these devices. Chances are, you are paying for your child’s telephone or tablet, you have paid for the television in your child’s room and you have paid for your child’s video game console. You have every right to set time limits on their usage.

If you are having trouble setting limits and boundaries with your children, perhaps it is time to consider parenting skills classes. You must remember that you are the adult in the parent-child relationship and your child will come to respect you more if you are consistent in enforcing time limits and boundaries with them when it comes to the devices they use.