<p>Now is so late but my friend called me.
She can’t sleep because of her D
A very smart talent teenager, spent all her time on internet.
Games, chat, social and even get the answers for homework.</p>
<p>My friend asked : “what should I do?”</p>
<p>Nothing. The D needs to make her own mistakes.</p>
<p>If her grades are bad, the parent can threaten to pull funding for school (assuming the parents are paying) if the grades don’t improve.</p>
<p>But for now, let her do her thing. This is about when midterms start popping up…as an RA, I can tell you that a lot of students really buckle down after those first grades get handed back.</p>
<p>An unimaginable amount of knowledge is on the internet, along with an unprecedented ability to interact with people from every corner of the world. I don’t see the problem.</p>
<p>Depending on how old her D is, in this case I’m assuming a teenager, she could limit how much time her D spends on the internet. How much time, would be for her to decide what she would be comfortable with. Two hours per day? Five? She could divide the time between homework/schoolwork and then “entertainment time”- basically where her D just surfs the web, checks FB, etc.</p>
<p>I dunno. I can’t really say what’s healthy and what’s not. I think a lot of teenagers and people in general spend a lot of time online- it’s just this generation. It doesn’t sound like her D has too serious of a problem, nothing out of the norm anyway. </p>
<p>The only reason I could see it being a problem is if it’s an addiction: If it gets in the way of other activities ALL OF the time, then it’s an addiction, which means it’s unhealthy. But if she’s just spending some extra time on the computer, I doubt it’s anything to worry about. Some kids just aren’t that social, and prefer to spend their time online. Hell, even the social ones are refreshing their twitter feed as we speak :)</p>
<p>Your friend shouldn’t intervene unless it’s obvious that it’s an addiction. Then she should try talking to her D and figuring out the problem. But she shouldn’t just pull the plug on the wifi right away… she should definitely speak to her D first, she doesn’t want to create conflict where there isn’t any.</p>
<p>Do you have any more information? Is the young lady depressed? Removing herself from social situations? Not filling out college applications or spending time with friends to be online?</p>
<p>You brought an issue like this to an internet forum. Do you really expect some sort of balanced, rational response?</p>
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<p>LOL…</p>
<p>Remember when all the phones were landlines and parents were always talking about us spending too, too much time on the phone? My best friend had a sister who was two years older than her. I remember the parents all talking about the fact that they’d gotten a second line so that THEY could get phone calls, too, but it just turned into a way for both girls to be on the phone all night long.</p>
<p>Then, we grow up and screen our calls. :p</p>
<p>If this is a teen at home then you can turn it off. Unplug the connection and take the cords and or modem to bed with you. If you are on a wireless router unplug the router. If she is at college then let her know the expectations for grades to stay in school.</p>
<p>If the D is at home, the solution is so very simple. BE THE PARENT AND UNPLUG! Set limits and stick to them. Kids really do want boundaries and are much happier (in the long run) if we, the adults in their lives, present them with very clear expectations and rules.</p>
<p>There really is not enough information here to provide any advice at all. </p>
<p>How old is she and what grade? How much actual time, objectively speaking? What are her grades like? Is this a new issue or has it always been this way? Is it interfering with other aspects of her life (not just homework)?</p>
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<p>I’m with you, shellz! Back in the old days, my parents would shut off the TV and tell us to go outdoors and play.</p>
<p>Yup, unplug 'em. D2 has a laptop from school (10th grade), but I take it away at bedtime, otherwise she would be up at night chatting, etc. When she claims she has a lot of homework, I let her know that she should finish her online work for it by a certain time (say, 10 pm), and then I turn off the wireless modem so she can only work on the laptop itself.</p>
<p>Memories of when we literally pulled the plug and hid it from HS kid. Now as a college senior he even Skyped me- he surfs so many varied intellectual sites unlike the gaming of HS senior year. Content matters. Also reminded of his early teenage years when he lied to us about the websites he visited- his dad was able to check up on him, now son way ahead of H computerwise (including those courses we paid tuition for).</p>
<p>Why would someone even need to ask this question? I found it not difficult at all to tell the kids to turn off the TV, the computer, put down the games, finish the homework before playing Xbox etc. The parent is loosing sleep? Really. Tell your friend to lay down some reasonable rules for usage and stick with what she/he says.</p>