Interactive child education and disciplinary methods start to pale in front of the lack of interest by children and the surrender of the parents in front of the technological invasion. Now the little ones are the prisoners to other form of studying and development: video games, TV, computers and other gadgets make interactivity gradually pale in the parents attempts to impose education and to develop a strong and active child.

Interactivity is essential in the growing of children and takes to the development of inter-human relations as well as self-confidence growth. But, by the principle "one nail drives out another", it is essential as a parent to actively intervene in controlling the way your child "relationships" with the TV or the computer. The TV, computer and video games invaded the childhood of many and they radically changed the children's way to learn and the concept of play and games. Here is how you must set rules and to create your own policy about using electronics and choosing the games for them.

Limit the time spent by children in front of the TV or computer !

The first step, according to the experts, is to draw a plan in which you exactly establish the recommended time frames for spending time in front of the electronics according to the child's age. It is essential to respect the plan exactly with the child from early age.

Small children are not allowed more than 1 hour/day.

School children are allowed about 2 hours every day.

Teenagers should not exceed more than 3 hours/day.

Rules for using the TV or computer by children:

When we talk about the effective time spent by the little one in front of the electronics, monitoring and supervision must come to mind. It doesn't matter the amount of time the child spends in front of them, it is important to always know what he's doing in this time and to take all precautions not to let him get exposed to forbidden stuff.

Remove the TV channels inappropriate for his/her age.

You can buy a special device that blocks certain TV channels that you don't want him/her to be exposed, both for TV and for the computer.

Be a role model for the little one – don't spend too much time in front of the TV or the computer, not to give a bad example to the child.

Don't choose TV or video games when there you can chose from many more outdoor time spending activities; look for healthier alternatives that can help the children interact.

As time permits, watch TV with your child and stay next to him when he surfs the Internet. If you stumble across inappropriate TV Channels or Web sites, change the channel, but explain to the child why is it important for him/her not to see something like that.

Talk to your child as he/her is growing up and try to explain the main rules about using the Internet as he/she gets more freedom in using it (about copyrights, software piracy, pornography, child pornography etc.) – teach him/her to responsibly use the online environment assuring him/her that could be repercussions (legal or not) of his/hers actions.

Periodically check his/hers e-mail account and chat archives that he/her had with other children or persons (it is not a violation of privacy rights, but a security precaution in an environment that could turn him vulnerable or naive.

Rules applied to video games played by children:

The most important and sad in the same time secondary effect of playing video games by children is obesity. The statistics show that more and more children spend many hours in front of the TV or computer, playing unending series of games, without moving one inch. Plus, most eat as they play and the food options are disappointing (mainly junk food and harmful snacks).

Make sure you agree on each game the child picks (most of the games encourage violence and there are full of cruelty acts that harm the mental health and the harmonious development of the child.

Set time frames allocate to playing on the computer that must be strictly obeyed (not even 5 minutes more), or else you will end up granting him/her hours of play without even realizing it.

Encourage him/her to pick video games that involve more players, interactive, to reduce the child's social isolation.

Pick smart gadgets (like Wii) that imply a minimum of physical activity, thus the child is more active.

Pay attention to the online video games involving real players and the chat your child has with strangers (teach him/her not to give out important details to the strangers as the home address, name of phone numbers etc.)

Hot to educate your child in an interactive way?

Limit the child's access to TV and computer (two sources of passivity and sedentariness);

Always offer your child more active and interactive play activities, that imply movement and mind and creativity stimulation, communication and competitive spirit;

Encourage him/her to play with other children;

Buy interactive video games;

Sing the child up so courses and various activities that involve interactivity and interaction among children.