Slashdot Mirror
Regulate Your Kids' Gaming With Time Scout
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a PC World/Yahoo story discussing the Time-Scout Monitor, a device "which tracks and enforces usage limits on electronic products, and cuts the power when time runs out." It's aimed at kids who may watch TV or, particularly, play game consoles for too long, and uses an ATM-like card to allott time on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. According to the man behind it, Kent Hansen, "You get home and the kid is playing Nintendo or the computer when they're supposed to be doing homework. Then you're facing arguments and negotiations that make you the bad guy. With this product, there's no argument, because you can't argue with a box."
Kid: Mom, what happens when I unplug the Nintendo from that funny-looking box and plug it into a normal socket?
Mom: Shit.
--TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
From the post (my emphasis):
Right. Exactly. Just another excuse for parents to not be parents and be their child's best friend. Ladies and Gentlemen, you aren't supposed to be your kid's best friend. You're supposed to be their parent, their role model, their mentor, their teacher. Quit sluffing off and do your jobs!
P.S. To those parents who do monitor the time their kids spend online, playing games, watching TV, etc. Thank you.
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
Apart from the above, what about multi-TV households? I suspect that any family ready to blow $70 on a device like this has multiple televisions and would need one of these devices on each one. If only one is attached then, of course, the product can easily be evaded by moving to another TV.
Realistically, the only way this product works effectively (if only one is bought) is in stopping kids from using their console (again assuming that there is a locking mechanism as described in my first paragraph). They can still vegetate in front of one of the TVs in the house, and frankly I would find that more disturbing were I a parent than having the kid playing video games (at least their brain is engaged with the latter).
I guess there's one more way this could work, and that's by integrating the idea into televisions and consoles themselves. Then, parents could simply choose to buy only components wtih the card access technology. Otherwise, there are just too many ways around it, and by the time the child is old enough to play videogames they're going to have the ability to evade the system.
--Note that all of the above assumes that the concept is a "healthy" idea in terms of parenting which is another argument entirely.
I actually followed the rule for more than a year, then my dad started going on lemmings binges and the injustice of it all sank in. Ultimately, if she'd said "an hour per day" or something I probably would have wasted less of my life overall on computer games.
What ever happened to just parents setting down a set of rules and actually enforcing them? Devices like this might be the new 20th century way of being a parent, but they often tend to throw off the responsibilities of being a parent. Nothing beats being there for your kids. Take an active role for crying out loud, their only kids once.
It's true, I've tried.
... left ! God and BABY Jesus, I am not playing that entire level again!"
... unless, of course, you decide that it's to blame for the "glitch."
"What the f--"
"I pushed left, you squirrely piece of shit
Storm out of the room. Wait at least two minutes (you do have your pride), then slink back in and play that entire level again.
I also recommend a wireless controller. Preferrably one of the more expensive models. Trust me, you're much less tempted to throw a $50 miracle of modern technology into the wall
/* Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeux, et fondez vous en eau! La moitie de ma vie a mis l'autre au tombeau. - Corneille */
Scouting not your speed? Adults not willing to help out with troop logistics occasionally? Go grab your local equivilent of Computer Bits and find your local gaming groups. Yeah, it's not really reducing hours gamed, but it's getting that all-important social interaction, which is the ultimate goal.
Gaming too much is more of a social issue than a technological one, and one that requires a social solution.
Help us build a better map!
Kids may be foolish, but they're devious. Furthermore, parents assume that their children are stupid and incompetent, and therefore slack off, doing things like using "12345" as the password or leaving the original power supply lying back behind the TV.
Besides, if the Time Scout can't somehow lock onto a console's power-cord connection, it's a waste of money. Power cords are cheap and easy to acquire, especially if there are more than one kid working together - a couple week's allowance for a new power supply, they plug in when they're home alone, and they can burn all their alotted time when the parents are home. It's futile trying to control a latch-key kid*; if you're not there, what's to be afraid of?
And what's this shit about not having to fight with your kids? Are people so afraid of accountability that they're willing to entrust the raising of their offspring to electronic devices? If you're so afraid of fighting, why not just let the little bastards play Nintendo all day?
I hate to sound so vitriolic, but shit like this ticks me off. If you don't want your kids to play Nintendo when they should be doing their homework or chores, don't let them. If they do, take the console (not the power cord) and put it in your office at work. This sounds like a device designed for parents who have to leave their kids alone occasionally, and I will guarantee you that if it's hidden in the house, they will find it. They'll most likely even be able to replace it so that you won't even know they did.
* You might not be able to control them, but if you do a good job raising a kid, you won't have to. There are no children who are born incorrigible.
How long until some ingenius little tyke figures out how to hack or modify the device anyways? If they can't get enough access to do what they want to do, they'll go to the library, school or a friend's house and use a computer there to figure out how to break the restrictions on the box. Then all mom and dad have is a $70 hunk of metal and plastic, and they're back to square one.
Gabriel Ricard
Instead of: Mom: "Johnny, save your game and come to dinner," we get: Box: "click" Johnny: "Goddammit I was almost through that level!"
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
I agree that the modern parent leaves too much parenting Jo XBOX and re-runs of "Leave it to Beaver", but have you ever tried saying Goodnight to a kid with ADD? It's quite a process, let me tell ya (my girlfriends brother can't focus on food, let alone homework). This is a firm "sorry, get your ass to bed". Sure, there will be whining of "just a few more credits pleaaaaassee...." but there is a firm 'NO' that can along with that.
It's a slightly less drastic measure than unplugging the game machine yourself (which starts a much more fun and larger arguement) and this device gives you a warning. It's hard to monitor the exact bedtime clock when you're doing laundry, the dishes, and trying to balance the checkbook all at the same time.
Before we all claim that anyone who uses some outside help in disciplining their kids is a bad parent, we should really think about how this might actually be usefull.
Just my 2 cents