The Smurfs Woke Me at 5am

While the cartoon Smurfs are sorta cute, a 5am wake-up call by the virtual ones is not. 

This saga begins a few weeks ago when my husband had been traveling for almost two weeks.  I was so tired of hearing, "Can I go on the computer?" and "I never get to go on the computer," yet I wasn't sure where to draw the line for our house.  I was trying to stay flexible.  Keep my options open.  I started writing my thoughts here and researching on-line and with friends to learn more about what is appropriate for kids in general, for my kids and for our family.  The lack of rules in this area had led to a "wear Mom down" mentality and was causing more trouble than what ever point I was trying to make was worth.

Every house is different and some studies suggest far more screen time than we plan to allow in our house.  The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests "no more than one to two hours" per day for school-age kids. (AAP Website on Media Issues.)  Many of my friends don't allow any screen time during the week (they are clearly better parents ;-))  With my husband frequently away on business, I'm not brave enough to go cold turkey.  After doing some research, talking with John, and polling various friends, we settled on a rule of 30 minutes of screen time per day/per child.  The net result is really one hour per kid since they watch each other.  Sidebar: Now would be a good time to take the poll to the right of your screen (hint hint!) 

Under the new rules, screen time is only available after other chores (homework, piano, clothes in hamper, dishes cleared, etc) are complete.  Screen time can be lost for the day for several reasons and cannot be carried over.  Screen time, which currently takes place on the iPad, is timed via oven timer, and the user must get up, relinquish the iPad, and turn off the timer when finished.  The kids bought into the new plan and we were a happy family again.

Until the Smurfs. 

No one in the house knows exactly how the Smurfs landed on the iPad (the popular theory is that the five year old did it), but there they were and they were making themselves known. 

In Smurfs' Village (probably a bit like Farmville, although I've never played that), the Smurfs plant gardens of raspberries, carrots, and other crops, which grow at different rates, must be picked before they wilt, and can be traded up for more seeds and, the ever-important XP (experience points) which allow the players to gain entry to new and higher levels of the Smurfs' Village.  I can pretend the kids are gaining valuable planning and farming skills, but I have my doubts as to the true educational nature of this game.

I have, however, no doubt about the addictive nature of it.  The game pushes frequent pop-up reminders to the iPad with a loud ping and message stating, "Your raspberries are ready to harvest!"  Upon hearing the ping, the kids drop everything and run to attend to their crops before they "wilt".  Within days, my little farmers were obsessed.  I was dumbfounded.  One day, after I wearily put the iPad on Silent mode - after a ping at 5AM! - they blamed me for letting their crops wilt.

Thanks to the Smurfs, our 30-minute rule quickly devolved into 30 minutes of crop building, followed by on-going checking, harvesting and replanting at various intervals throughout the day.

There is a lot of information available on the addictive nature of on-line gaming, especially role playing and virtual reality types.  Much of the research is focused on teens and college students.  I believe the prevalence of iPhones and iPads and games like these among the younger set presents a wake-up call for parents everywhere.  I'm starting to read up on the impact of constant and addictive screen time on the developing impulse control and attention span of younger kids and will share any conclusions I find soon, but I don't think it has been long enough to know the real long-term effect of the i-devices.

In the meantime, my early-morning Smurfs wake-up call was the beginning of the end for the Smurfs in our house.  Kids, especially my kids, need to have limits set for them, and to have moderation modeled, even when it means letting the Smurfs' Village raspberries wilt.