Is this normal for a teenager, or are my parents wrong?

Alright, my parents think I'm addicted to the computer.(I play SA-MP, an online gaming community, sa-mp.com, facebook and myspace, I also text)

I get on usually to just check my e-mail, I am 13 by the way.

I also play for a couple hours, not even every day(like only 2-4 hours AFTER DOING MY CHORES, helping around the house and doing my homework.)

They say "you should be on for 30 minutes, that's your daily limit from now on" 30 MINUTES? EVERYONE I KNOW IS PLAYING VIDEO GAMES OR TEXTING OR ON THE PHONE, OR WATCHING TV, OR ON THE COMPUTER FOR HOURS ON END..and they're not bad kids.

I get average grades, I mean, I'm smart but in my school our cirruculum is different and pretty hard to begin with, so yeah.

I have a netbook in my room(Which cannot even play SAMP[Samp is gta san andreas multiplayer, the server i play on is a roleplay server and isn't focused on blasting cops for no reason] )

THe netbook barely fits any online PUZZLE GAME, facebook hardly fits, hard to navigate, THEY THINK IM PLAYING GAMES IN MY ROOM 24/7, IT IS NOT TRUE..

They dont think im troubled but yeah. The main computer is in my sisters room. It was originally in my room, but what happened was, well..

I was reading on Saturday night, a really good book lying down. My computer was on(I don't usually turn it off tottaly)

and i was reading for hours, and then my computer made a beeping noise.

It wouldnt stop so i got up and turned on the monitor, and right then my Dad walked in thinking I was playing on the computer! like WTF?

oh and the noise was a driver error or something..idk.

So it's in my sises room and shes 23 and goes to college(she went away for like 4 years already) came back and for the last year goes to classes(drives) like 2 times a week and when i come home from school shes always in her room i have to wait for her to go out or for her to babysit or something..

one time i couldnt even get on for like 1 week and it sucked..

my parents always say " be a better person dont follow the crowd at your school" well im so dang nice and i always do favors and never hurt or insult people and i even read instead of TV sometimes.., they always say "

I NEVER SEE YOU PICK UP A BOOK" I READ EVERY STINKING NIGHT AND I SLEEP AT 9:30 pm or 10 PM..

what do I do AND is this normal? no BS answers like "your 13 and should be reading" or "you're parents are good people listen to them"Is this normal for a teenager, or are my parents wrong?
They're not bullshit answers. Your parents are right, and you will eventually wise up to this fact.



Sorry, can't give you the answer you want. You do want honesty, right?
If you are 13 and you waste up to 4 hours every day playing games online or whatever, YES that is far too much.Is this normal for a teenager, or are my parents wrong?
Seriously? No one under 30 should play any GTA game.



30 minutes online is enough for someone your age.



You should be interacting with humans, not keyboards.



One day you will understand this, as you place limits on your own children. Don't say you won't. You will.
The problem is that you could be learning a useful skill or getting exercise in these 2-4 hours of games. Video games are nothing but a pass-time.Is this normal for a teenager, or are my parents wrong?
4 hours a day is a bit excessive any time but the weekend, though I'm hardly one to talk. I played MUDs online for hours on end when I was your age (of course I was a total computer geek as a kid, so I was ALWAYS on the computer doing something time-consuming, even if I wasn't playing games... and I'm now a web developer, so I'm still always on the computer).
Ok to me it seems like your parents are being a little harsh. I mean four hours is a lot to spend on the computer but cutting you back to half hour is a lot. Ans yea this is totally normal for you to spend a lot of time on the computer its part of the world we live in. Yea its normal for your parents to react so strongly. Just give it sometime. Try to prove to them you don't need the computer, i bet youll have your computer time back before you know it. Hope this helps
yes im 16 and dont even do that **** as long as you ow almost forgot your parents are good pepol do what thay say
You're on the computer too much. Four hours isn't "normal," and your grades could well rise above average if you devoted as much time to your homework as you now do to the computer.



Offer a compromise. Say you'll be on the computer for an hour a day. If you show you can negotiate in a mature and intelligent manner, then your parents might be impressed enough to agree.
Ok you asked for no BS answers, but you didn't ask us not to be blunt. Sorry but that's who I am...



You think you have it bad? Well think about this. Think about other kids out there that are your age that really don't have a roof over their heads. Think about the fact that there are kids out there that get beat up by their parents every 9 seconds. Think about the fact that there are kids that are out there that have SO much worse than this pathetic little dilemma you have with your computer. If I were you I'd be grateful for what you've got because you can blink and the next second it will be GONE. My God, just be happy that you have your parents and the fact that they are concerned about you. Who cares about this stupid little computer thing. There are far worse things that you should worry about, and when you finally get out on your own you'll have to deal with the BS that your parents have to deal with everyday. Your sister probably already knows that being on her own is hard enough. But just because she's on that computer doesn't give you the right to throw a temper tantrum like a little two year old. Rules are in the house for a reason and your parents expect you to follow them..not act like some ungrateful little brat.



And I agree with your parents..30 minutes is long enough to be on the computer. If they were smart they would enable the parental controls. And instead of making 'average' grades', why not work on doing a little better? If you do that, maybe your parents will ease up on you. They not being easy on you because you're being impossible.



So this answer isn't BS...it's the blunt truth. Remember that there are so many people out in the world that have a far worse crisis than your stupid little computer problem. Wise up fast...trust me.
Ok, this is going to fly in the face of most of these answers but here goes. 2 - 4 hours a night on the computer for someone your age is not excessive. In fact if you went to the same high school as my youngest daughter that would be enough time to do about half of your homework, all of it on-line based.

Studies at various Universities have shown that this level of activity is the norm and is proving to be beneficial in the long run. Just a few of the factors to be considered are computer gaming increases hand/eye coordination. Role Playing develops the imagination and enhances communication skills. Social networking sites such as Facebook are the preferred medium of communication for most people, preteen through early 20s.

It would be nice if our children would read more books or write more letters but that is not their norm. The best thing for today's parents to do is to learn as much about the dangers our children face on this new medium and then take what steps we can to protect them and educate them without limiting their ability to grow all of their skills. We need to learn how to monitor what they see and who they interact with. In other words learn how to use the computer and how to use the parental controls. And learn to use Alpha/numeric passwords that are totally unrelated to what we like and know - a good start... open the dictionary randomly and select the first 8+ letter word. Change the vowels into numbers and you have a very good strong password.

Yes children do need to get more exercise, but that needs to be balanced against the fact that the computer is and will remain an integral part of their lives, even more so than ours today.
I am 13 and my Mom thinks I''m addicted to the computer. Thing is, I have NEVER played an online game! I am always writing, and blogging- if I'm addicted to anything it's blogging and youtube music. I don't do facebook and myspace and all that junk, all I ever do is blog- while listening on YT. But I don't know what my mom thinks I'm doing. I sleep usually around 3 am because I have been writing until then, and then I get up in the morning early enough, usually in time for school (JK). So when I have been writing and blogging since 8pm until 3am I don't think what you do is excessive at all. I am really busy with this kind of story-form blogging... I have "Created" a character and I have to be always thinking of things to keep them "alive" so I am actually doing something creative. I have virtually started a role-playing thing with a huge community, and all I can say is it's AWESOME and really cool and all I would say is do something creative with the time you'd just waste surfing the web.