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Regulate Your Kids' Gaming With Time Scout

Posted by simoniker on from the thunderstorms-and-natural-disasters-also-work dept.

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."

3 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. drawback? by orangesquid · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kid: Mom, what happens when I unplug the Nintendo from that funny-looking box and plug it into a normal socket?
    Mom: Shit.

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    --TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
  2. Parents? by mhesseltine · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From the post (my emphasis):

    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."

    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.

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    Overrated / Underrated : Moderation :: Anonymous Coward : Posting
  3. Old school by cfreeze · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.