Make rules, but keep them manageable. Try this one: Nothing that has a button gets pushed until an hour of reading (or a set list of chores) is done. No computer, no games, no TV. Pick your battles, but keep them simple. Set time limits on TV, Internet, and game use. Stick to them. Get a timer if you must.
Make plans. For whatever reason, kids like to stay home during the summer. If you’re working during the day, that means your rules go right out the window. Make your kids make plans to see their friends. Enroll them in a sports clinic at the park. Or summer school, an SAT prep class, art school, or drama camp—anything to get them out and going.
Enroll them in a local Y or community center. At 13, kids are old enough to go on their own. They can work out, swim, or play a game of pick-up hoops.
Have them keep a log. It won’t last long. But when they see 5 hours of screen time versus 30 minutes of exercise and 0 face-to-face friend contacts, you’ll have a chance to point out the potential physical, emotional, and social fall-out—because that’s a recipe for weight gain, brain drain, and loneliness!
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