Back to School: Time to Reset Kids' Media Rules

The waning days of summer are still pretty loosey-goosey around here. Kids are up late and sleeping late. My 6^th grader's logging lots of hours on the Playstation 2 playing MLB The Show with his next-door buddy. And my 4^th grader is buying furniture and trinkets for her Webkinz St. Bernard pup with her online chore earnings and winnings at the Webkinz arcade. (I'm so proud.)

Oh, it's been a good summer. But soon, reality will hit, alarms will ring early, and the school day's structure will change media habits in our house. Mostly, this will come naturally because the kids will get busy fast with homework and after-school sports and activities. But sometimes, it will come from me, re-establishing limits on gaming and computer time so we can get the have-to's done.

Here are some tips from Common Sense Media for re-establishing media rules during the school year. The guidelines we try to stick to during the school week boil down to this:

Homework first.

Save IMing, MLB The Show, Webkinz, emails, and all the TV shows stored in our DVR, for after homework is finished and sports are over.

It's hard enough to get it all done without constant distractions. But it also helps the week move along when you can reach out to friends and get needed downtime watching some favorite shows and playing games. The trick is fitting it all in.

What works in your home?