In the comment section of the previous post, Viva, the owner of the Handipoints site, asked:
Curious to hear what parents think about the idea of adding the feature of restricting time spent in HandiLand by deducting points automatically? For example, in order to enter HandiLand or play a game in HandiLand, kids would have to spend some of their purple Bonus Points.
I thought this was important to bring out as a post all its own.
So, what do you think? Would you want some sort of imposed time restriction on the Handiland site?
Can I say what I think?
I don’t like this idea. I prefer to be the one who decides how long my child can or can not play a computer game. Some days I allow them to play longer, if it is a rainy day, or one of those reallllllllllllly long evenings that we have in the middle of winter, or as a special priviledge.
I would wonder if the points would be good for a certain length of time? What if your child had to get up in the middle to go to the bathroom, or they didn’t use all of the time… would it be saved for the next time they logged in? What if they were in the middle of a game and the time ran out?
I don’t know, to me it seems like needlessly complicating things.
But, the site owners would love to know what you think as the users of the site. Would this be a feature that you would utilize or even be interested in? Leave a comment and let them know.
What about allowing the parent to set the time limits. Is there a way to do that?
Chris says: Good question, Lori!
Comment by Lori — January 23, 2008 @ 3:00 pm
I don’t know. I already give Matt a time limit with things, including computer time. I do have points deducted if I catch him sneaking extra time on video games. He thinks he’s sneaky, LOL. He waits till I get busy in the kitchen or in the basement while I’m doing laundry.
Hmmm, see, this is something that you would have to get more responses on since I just started at this site.
Comment by Christine — January 23, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
I don’t think it’s a good idea to put time limits on the Handiland activities. I believe that each parent has a unique parenting style, and it should be the responsibility of the parent to govern time limits…hence, teaching your child responsibility through using the chore charts. There is already an option for those of us (parents) who want to limit time for certain activities. It should not be up to the site owner to govern this, again, it is and should be the responsibility of the parents. (By the way…off the subject, but thank you for such a great site!)
Comment by Elie — January 23, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
I haven’t actually signed up yet, but my impression was that it was up to the parents to set up what chores/rewards the child would get, and it seems the time allowed on the site should be one of those parent-decided things!
Comment by Brigitte — January 24, 2008 @ 5:34 am
I agree that the limitations of time spent on the site should be parent directed, not set within the program.
Comment by Michelle — January 24, 2008 @ 5:38 pm
This has nothing to do with the ongoing discussion, but I can’t figure out where else to post a question. In the world of positive reinforcement, which I often struggle with, I have a suggestion. Can there not be a way to award points for the unscheduled chore / good deed? I tried to just modify their task charts to accomplish this, but it says I can’t add more than 20 tasks, and they’re right at twenty. I don’t want to delete what’s on the chart to add the bonus deed, but I wish I could give them points for it. I’m new to Handipoints. Is there a way to do this?
Comment by Denise — January 25, 2008 @ 12:52 am
Thanks for facilitating the discussion Chris and thanks for the great comments! To clarify the feature we are thinking about adding, rather than forcing time limits we would provide the ability to setup a timer that would govern a child’s online time. The parent would have to turn on the timer and optionally set a points value for their child to buy bonus time.
Denise, to answer your question, try creating a new chart specifically for Bonus activities to reward your child. Creating new charts allows you to better organize your tasks. To create a new chart, by selecting the Add Chart button on the charts page. Feel free to email me directly if you have any more questions.
Comment by Viva — January 29, 2008 @ 2:21 am
Viva,
Oh, thanks for clarifying! I think that sounds like a good idea.
Comment by Chris — January 29, 2008 @ 9:31 am
I think I, too, would vote against a programmed time limit. It sounds like extra work for Viva’s people, and I think that one of the things I like best about this whole setup is that it simply facilitates parent-and-child interaction.
That said, let me just say how very much I love this site!
Comment by Wixenstyx — March 29, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
can you poeple please make it so you can take any part of the clothes off.for example,i have a dress on my cat,make it so i can take the skirt part off or the shirt part off and i can put it back together whenever i want to
Comment by jonathan — April 5, 2008 @ 10:43 am
I use the parental settings in windows to block off allowed time for my kids internet usage. It is free and you set the hours allowed and any other time it will deny access. I think that should be a parental decision.
I would like to see the handiland automatically deduct points for chores not done so that I don’t have to go in and give demerits each time. Plus I can only give one demerit for that each day so if they don’t do multiple chores they get off too easy.
The only other suggestion I would have is to have a family email system built in so that kids and parents can email each other without kids having to have a regular email account. I don’t feel safe with my 9 year old using regular email. Any chance this is on the horizon?
Thanks for a great program!
Comment by 3boysandme — April 23, 2008 @ 8:32 am
We already set time limits for the kids. It is not a necessary feature for our family.
I really like the positive aspect of the current program. I don’t want to take away points for what is not done. They already don’t get points if they don’t do it. If they do it poorly, they only get partial points. We picked out 2 demerits each kid. I figure 2 bad habits at a time is enough to work on.
Comment by Brandi — April 24, 2008 @ 9:51 pm
Yes, I think that the time tracking is a good idea. since the kids have so little comprehension of time management, perhaps a gauge that shows them how long they’ve been on line with a sound to alert them of the different time intervals. No point deductions unless the parent activates that themselves. I think for parents I would like that for myself. Sometimes the time can just get away from me.
Comment by Ta'Mara — May 21, 2008 @ 10:30 am
3boysandme, where is the parental settings in windows that you mentioned, is it part of handiland only or on windows?
Comment by Ta'Mara — May 21, 2008 @ 10:32 am
We just started using Handipoints – but I would not want to have the restrictions in the software. I too give the kids more time depending on the day and circumstances. The same for chores. We try to plan and schedule the best that we can, but reality is that sometimes things don’t get done, and it is not always the kids. I would hate to see the kids deducted for not doing their chores in the software because of parent scheduling that takes them away from home and unable to complete the tasks. Or family emergencies, working overtime, school events that take time after school and the chores might not get done because of brothers football game, etc… I am excited about using the site, but definatley like the parental controls of scheduling, and controling the demerits and rewards. Just my 2 cents. Enjoying the site so far.
Comment by Momof4 — June 22, 2008 @ 10:33 pm