# "Let's them know when their time is up, so you don't have to"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 13, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404 "2013-07-13T16:03:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Claire98909](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire98909)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/1 "2013-07-13T16:03:16Z")
I just saw a commercial for this new Kindle feature that lets parents set the amounts of time their kids can do certain things (watch shows, play games, etc) each day on their Kindle. The last thing the narrator said was “It lets them know when their time is up, so you don’t have to.”
I already don’t approve of young kids using tablets and iPhones and the like because I think it spoils them and limits their interaction with their parents, but this is just too much. Have parents gotten so lazy (probably playing on their own tablets) that they’re no longer capable of doing their jobs and telling the kids that playtime is over?
Thoughts on this?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/2 "2013-07-13T16:21:44Z")
I don’t see it that way. It’s more a means for parents to set a limit on their child’s activity and not have to then sit around watching the clock to see when the time is up. It’s a convenience not an abrogation of responsibility.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/3 "2013-07-13T16:33:37Z")
I understand it, it’s just poorly worded. It makes the tablet the bad guy and not the parents. It’s not that much different then turning off the light when you tell the kid it’s bed time. For some reason, that bypasses the whole ‘but daaaad, I’m still playing’ fight. Or turning off the TV instead of telling them they can’t watch one more Spongebob. It’s just easier that way.
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### Author:  [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/4 "2013-07-13T17:11:36Z")
How many kids do you have, **Claire98909**?
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### Author:  [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/5 "2013-07-13T17:25:04Z")
Tablets are gonna be the learning tool children use in the years and decades to come. “Not approving” of children using them seems horribly out of touch.
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### Author:  [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/6 "2013-07-14T00:46:34Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#):
>
> How many kids do you have, **Claire98909**?
Exactly my first thought.
I think it’s handy. It’s especially handy if you’d like to encourage your kid to read books on the Kindle, but it’s also internet/game-capable. Less direct micro-management is better, I think, and I’d personally be willing to let my kid spend an almost unlimited time reading books but not playing games.
It’s good for parents to keep an eye on their kids, but more interaction is not always better. Kids need to learn how to keep themselves entertained, and books are a great way to do that, electronic or not.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/7 "2013-07-14T01:06:41Z")
I like the idea of the tablet having a built-in limiting feature . . . except the kids will find a way around it before the parents even suspect.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/8 "2013-07-14T01:46:55Z")
Frankly I think the idea of a parent single-mindedly focusing all of their attention to a child for the majority of the day is a bit of a historical anachronism. Motherhood, especially on a farm with lots of kids, hasn’t historically left a ton of time for finger-painting and trips to the zoo. Kids have typically spent a lot of time roaming in packs, entertaining themselves, or (more likely) shucking corn and fetching water and generally working.
If a kid can only entertain themselves with a screen, that is an issue. But I see nothing at all wrong with a kid using a tablet during their quiet time. And I’ve seen kids do some pretty amazing stuff with the learning games on tablets.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/9 "2013-07-14T01:59:56Z")
Sounds sensible to me - lets the kid choose how and when to spend their allocation of Kindle time without having to keep a log book or have mummy/daddy monitor every minute. Mind you I am the kind of modern thinker that has a timer on both my stove and microwave. I even set one for meditating.
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### Author:  [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/10 "2013-07-14T06:20:10Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> I understand it, it’s just poorly worded. It makes the tablet the bad guy and not the parents. It’s not that much different then turning off the light when you tell the kid it’s bed time. For some reason, that bypasses the whole ‘but daaaad, I’m still playing’ fight. Or turning off the TV instead of telling them they can’t watch one more Spongebob. It’s just easier that way.
This right here. It’s an argument-cutting measure. The kids can’t exactly sit there and dawdle and whine and fight back with “but I’m still doing…!” if the thing simply stops working. There’s nothing left to fight for, the light is out, the tv is off, the tablet has stopped working, time to simply listen to mom & dad’s rules.
I’m pretty sure the truly lazy parents will not even bother with such a setting.
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### Author:  [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/11 "2013-07-14T08:02:19Z")
> [@Bruce\_Wayne](#):
>
> Tablets are gonna be the learning tool children use in the years and decades to come. “Not approving” of children using them seems horribly out of touch.
As does thinking that anybody gives a shit whether some internet rando “approves” or not. Seems like our OP needs a new hobby.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/12 "2013-07-14T10:10:07Z")
Screw that! I’m with Homer:
[QUOTE=Homer Simpson]
…What.. With the internet these days, kids practically raise themselves.
[/QUOTE]
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### Author:  [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/13 "2013-07-14T15:50:31Z")
I thought this thread was going to be about euthanasia.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/14 "2013-07-14T18:15:02Z")
Is this some kind of new thing? I thought parental control software had been available for years. I know that, in theory, I could set up different accounts on my computer that allow different levels of access. How is this any different?
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### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/15 "2013-07-14T18:24:31Z")
I am not a parent, but this seems like a nice little white lie for younger kids.
“Aw, the machine is over for the day!”
Just the other day on the local radio talk show, they were talking about white lies to kids. One woman called in and said she was in a hurry and had to take her daughter to stay with grandma while she went to doctor and did some errands. The little girl saw a McDonalds and said, “Oh, can we stop?”
Mom said, “Sorry honey, they are closed today.”
Later, grandma called and said, “So, McDonalds is closed at noon today, eh?”
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2013, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/16 "2013-07-15T11:38:40Z")
> [@DMark](#):
>
> Later, grandma called and said, “So, McDonalds is closed at noon today, eh?”
Looked closed to me.
This kind of feature also helps because you can come to an agreement with the child on a reasonable amount of usage. The machine tracks and enforces it. Without the machine, it’s a pain in the ass to monitor everything the child is doing, especially with a Kindle that can do multiple things. You stop looking over their shoulder and they quit reading the book and go back to the internet/game, only to put the book back on when you go back up the stairs. It also cuts out the inevitable whining about the time. They agreed to the time, the time is up.
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### Author:  [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/17 "2013-07-15T13:33:21Z")
> [@AaronX](#):
>
> I thought this thread was going to be about euthanasia.
Ditto! I’m kind of disappointed now…
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/18 "2013-07-15T14:22:27Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> Is this some kind of new thing? I thought parental control software had been available for years. I know that, in theory, I could set up different accounts on my computer that allow different levels of access. How is this any different?
Parental controls are not new (my DVD player had them in 1998), and I’d imagine that’s part of why people are extra confused by the OP.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-them-know-when-their-time-is-up-so-you-dont-have-to/663404/19 "2013-07-15T15:44:29Z")
I like the idea of limiting their time on the Kindle. For those of you who haven’t seen the commercial, when the kid’s time is up, he looks out the window to see his sister playing outside, getting exercise in the fresh air. He goes to join her.