I also had the computer in the family room so that i could see what was happening. I was also very disturbed about the amout of time spent on games. I am sure that gaming was up to 80 to 90 hours per weeks during the last school holiday. My eldest son also became addicted at the same age (16) and this affected his HSC marks. He now works in computers and is a programmer, He has also since admitted that he wishes we had restricted his use. It has taken him years to finish his degree. I am wondering if my boys are particuarly prone because of their interest in computers. Their father is also in computers. Anyway I cant stand it anymore, currently trialing a monitoring program and it seems to be working. Now have my son down to 10 hours a week which sounds a lot but it so much better than before. it hasnt been easy and he has been upset with me at times. However he is studying and went for a practice drive with his father. Normal stuff but had no interest in this when he was addicted...............

I have two teenagers that spend too much time on the computer. The computer is in the kitchen so I'm not as worried about what they are doing, just that I can't seem to keep them to an agreed upon time limit. Does anyone know of a hardware solution that will time out and kill the power after a specific time? I know this sounds easy just pull the plug, but I'm not always around. It is also too easy for the kids to blame me in the heat of the instant.

If there is an internet filter type control that has a time limit feature, I'd be up for that. However, my 17 year old son is very clever and bypasses all software limiters I have tried to date. Again our problem is mainly too much time slips away before they realize what's happened.