How to use the online timer
Half an hour is a common allowance and the length most arguments in a household are about. What makes it work is not the number but the fact that it was agreed in advance and is visible while it runs, rather than being announced as an interruption twenty minutes into something the child was in the middle of.
Set the thirty minutes where everybody can see it and decide beforehand what happens at zero — including what to do when a game cannot be paused, which is the most common cause of trouble. Keep this page open on the device showing the count. Closing the tab ends it, and an ended countdown becomes an argument about whether the time was really up.
Warnings at ten minutes and at one minute do more than anything else to make the ending peaceful, because the surprise is what causes the resistance rather than the rule. It also helps enormously if the adults in the flat are visibly living by something similar; a rule that applies only to the shortest person in the household does not survive long.
Common questions
What about games that cannot be paused?
Agree beforehand what happens in that case, because it is the most common source of trouble. A warning at ten minutes and again at one lets the child reach a sensible stopping point.
Does the rule need to apply to adults too?
It helps enormously. A rule that applies only to the shortest person in the household tends not to survive long, and visible consistency does more than any amount of explaining.
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