Limiting screentime?

I've already opened the door talking about Minecraft; might as well dive headlong into screentime! Many people have asked me how we control screentime in our house and what my limits are.

Before we get to our current computer policy, it's only fair to give a little back story. Computers have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. While many of my generation grew up in a computer-free household, my father worked in computer programming and systems engineering. My brother and I grew up playing Kings Quest and Police Quest, learning to program Basic and playing Pong on our Atari. We had internet early on where you dialed up the phone next to your ear first, then listened for the squeal and connected it to the modem. We were early adopters. 

The kid has had his own computer since before he was two. After attempting to finish a work project related to University of California accreditation, while the kid was banging on my keyboard and demanding time to play Little People Airport, it was time to relent. With the typical attention span of a toddler, he self-limited to around 30 minutes at a time before he'd go do something else. Around three and a half though, all bets were off as he discovered a variety of JumpStart games that were more engaging and you also had to feed your pet! And so began the begging for just a few more minutes so his pet doggy wouldn't die during dinner. 

So how do we contend with screentime issues? It's complicated. My husband is a gamer and between us, we have nine working computers for three people. Not all nine are currently up and running, but they're all in working order, just hanging out waiting to be scavenged for parts. We have three computers on three desks, all in one room and we often play games together (or in the same room on our own games).  I prefer short and light games that require no commitment, while the boys prefer complex story lines, strategy or excellent graphics. 

Now that we've been homeschooling two years and we're heading into the third, it's apparent that the kid's preferred learning style is "anything on the computer." He'd much rather do Khan Academy than a printed worksheet, even if the problems are the same. He takes several online classes and spends countless hours each week learning on the computer. Is that screentime? Is it school? Where is the line between whether a TV show is enjoyment or learning when he'd choose something like Mythbusters for either?

The simplest answer is that we don't limit screentime. I stopped counting because it was too complex to figure out what qualified and what didn't. When you have a solid negotiator for a kid, he can argue his way out of anything including whether or not his Minecraft Hunger Games time qualifies as learning. Once we started homeschooling, the clear line blurred from entertainment to edutainment to education and it was simply easier to forget about the line altogether.

That doesn't mean he spends 16 hours a day on the computer. There are plenty of days (especially in the summer) where I just say "Enough!" That line depends on my mood, his mood and whether or not we have anything else to do. He'll work on a Lego project, hang out with friends, go swimming, read a book or work on a DIY project instead. As a competitive fencer, the kid spends between 4-6 hours a week at the fencing academy. He's well-rounded, creative and thoughtful. I'm not worried.

To be fair, our screen limits also heavily depends on whether or not he got off the computer without drama the day before when I said "Enough!" I have threatened to password protect his computer after he was getting up at 5am to play Minecraft and watch dreadfully lame videos of other people playing Minecraft. But a hard and fast two hour rule? Well... since I don't have any intention of following that myself, there's really no point!