I'm dealing with a tricky situation with my teenage son who has a MacBook. We've set strict screen time limits on platforms like YouTube and even blocked ChatGPT, but he has figured out how to use various web-based VPNs to bypass these restrictions. Checking his browser history shows that he's using alternative AI tools to complete his homework and watching YouTube videos during his designated homework time, which makes it tough for me to monitor him since I'm working at the same time. I'm looking for advice on how I can implement more effective blocks to keep AI tools off his homework and enforce better time limits for YouTube, especially considering that he sidesteps our current Apple Screen Time settings. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
4 Answers
Honestly, good luck! With technology advancing so fast, it’s tough to keep an eye on everything. It's great that you want to monitor him, but maybe instead of just blocking things, have a chat with him about why using AI isn’t fair to his education. Plus, AI is becoming a big part of the future; learning how to use it responsibly could actually benefit him later on.
You might want to try setting limits on physical presence—like having him do homework at the kitchen table where he’s more visible. Blocking every AI website is nearly impossible since new ones pop up all the time. And kids are really good at finding workarounds, so a solid plan for teaching responsibility might be better than just relying on tech solutions.
You can't completely stop this behavior, but setting clear expectations and consequences can help manage it. If he understands what’s acceptable and what’s not, he might think twice before trying to bypass your rules.
Honestly, this sounds frustrating! But think about how homework typically works; if a tool is helping him complete assignments for him, he’s missing out on the learning process. Maybe encourage him to make use of educational tools like Khan Academy instead, which can be a great resource for help without doing the work for him.
Exactly! There's a huge difference between using a learning tool and using something like ChatGPT to just get answers.