Ask LH: How Can I Limit The Time My Kids Spend On Facebook?

Hey Lifehacker, How can I limit the time my teenagers spend on sites like Facebook? Most solutions I’ve found online require software to be installed on individual PCs (which is not ideal at all). The only router-based solution I can find requires me to buy a specific model. Is there any other way to do it? Thanks, Book Blocker

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Dear BB,

Show them these two links and gently explain how Facebook has probably already turned them into social pariahs.

But seriously, we wouldn’t waste too much time dabbling with online restrictions or parental controls: sooner or later, your kids are just going to circumvent them. What they really need is some good ol’ fashioned parenting. Presumably your kids are under 18, which means you are 100 per cent in charge, even if they don’t know it.

Despite being a cliche, the “my house, my rules” adage should definitely apply. Instead of micromanaging their internet connections, limit device usage overall. Even if they purchased all their own hardware using money you didn’t give them, you still have the right to dictate usage while they’re under your roof. This goes doubly if they’re in the lower end of their teens. In short, you’re the boss. Don’t let the whining scroungers push you around.

If readers have any additional advice, let BB know in the comments section below.

Cheers
Lifehacker

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