Didn’t you know? It is National PC Turnoff Week.
According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, today kicks off the first PC turnoff week, modeled after the successful annual TV Turnoff Week. The goal is to focus attention to excessive computer use by children, to the detriment of playing outside or with friends.
I know this happens: I’ve seen it with my daughter and her obsession with Neopets. Luckily, she’s observing this week by spending it at camp, where there are no computers. But when she is home, she’ll spend all the time she can playing on Neopets. Its gotten to the point where I’ve been exploring time limiting software.
And… what a coincidence… the organizers behind PC Turnoff Week are the manufacturer of such software (which they willingly disclose). These folks believe that PC-Turnoff is a natural extension to the efforts of the company. I certainly agree with their efforts: I think many kids spend too much time on the computer, and not enough time reading, playing board games, or (horrors) playing outside. Part of this is society. I remember when I was growing up just wandering the neighborhood exploring for hours. Now, if your child did that, you would be worried about them (thanks to the media and the hyping up of the threat of child preditors, which was probably equal back then, just not publicized).
In any case: I am interested in time-limiting software. Has anyone heard or tried this groups software, ComputerTime? Does anyone have recommendations for similar software?
