My dad wants to cancel internet

admjn65

I need someone to tell me what to say to my father so he doesn't cancel our internet. I mean, yeah I could survive without it but he isnt being rational.
Heres the situation: My lil bro is 14 and in 8th grade. He got his reportcard today and his GPA for this quarter is a 2.0 which isnt too great lol. My brother plays Halo2 alottt and he plays WoW and so do I. My dad isnt feeling too jolly about my brother's report card and he has been blaming his bad grades on him playing too many video games and not studying enough. So my dad is threatening to cancel the internet and he is dead serious.
Now if this happens basically my whole family suffers because we all use the internet so much for homework, email, chatting, eBay :P , and games etc.
Personally I think he should just ground my brother from playing games until his grades get better but my dad says having the internet is too tempting for him to play games so he thinks if he just gets rid of it then he will get outdoors more and stuff. I think another reason my dad wants to cancel the internet is because my brother is a tad bit overweight and he wants him to be more active. Me on the otherhand... I'm 16 and I go to the gym weekly, I eat healthy, I get good grades, and I'm not constantly gaming (approx. 1-2 hrs a day except fridays are like 6+ ^^) but if I lose the internet then I am being punished for nothing.

I'm not really sure if he's actually gonna cancel it because he uses ebay alot, but when he picked up my bro's report card today he sounded pretty serious. What do u think about this?

Firewolf67

2.0... ouch. Anyway, do you have a router? They can be configured to disallow communications between IPs/ and ports used (ie. disable the games' internet access for brother's machine, but not yours), assuming you each have your own machine.
My router works like this (which is very annoying at times).

Hope this helps (I'd die w/out internet, myself...)

Azathoth

That sucks. If your dad did cancel your connectivity, what's to stop your little brother from going somewhere else and playing games all day without his knowledge?

Heck, have your dad threaten to send him to Military Academy (if just for a summer). I wouldn't be suprised if he straightened up pretty quick. I went to Military Academy and it isn't exactly fun (although some of it is, like the war games and such). Heck, he'd definitely get in shape and wouldn't be playing video games all day. I bet his grades would improve too.

I know my suggestion is a little drastic... just a thought.

Rikimaru_X

The first step I would take is to have your father ban your bro from video games until his grades go up. You can keep him from the net by starting a Username/Password thing going on to access the net. Also unhook the Xbox. If your brother is caught playing anything, have the father give him a whipping (your never to old to get one from parents ). If the situation gets worse, then cancel the net for awhile.

Your dad does have the right idea but see if you can try to have him take steps into the matter at hand and if it dose'nt work, cancel it.

Harelin

Going off cold turkey just sucks and will affect you and the rest of your family; explain that it may work but it's just not rational, all things considered. Appeal to him by being creative and coming up with a few solutions, see it from his point of view and use your computer literacy to find a less barbaric method to help improve your brother's grades.

Use one of those programs that limits the amount of time you can spend on the net. I think it exists... have em take away any consoles belonging to your brother, and simply find a program that will disable internet access after so much usage.

But don't think for a minute that your father isn't right. That's not healthy and computer / video game addictions DO affect grades, just as is most likely the case with your brother.

Puoltry

YOU need to beat your brothers ass.This is the simplest way to get him to straighten up.

Just tell him this:

If my internet gets yanked because of you im going kick your ass everyday.Think of it as "brotherly love".

Very similar to group dynamics one person screws up the rest suffer.In this situation you would actully be doing him a favor before it got any worse.

Vampir

wo wi forgot what its like to be in a situation like that im in the reverse, i manage our houses net adn network, so everytime im mad at him his internet goes down.

anyway, what you need to do is just put a little program i like to call NET NANNY, on his PC. i put it on my little bros. imagine a computer program that allows no questionable  content or anything thats basically non email or non research, tell you dad to let you put that on his machine. so it becomes IMPOSSIBLE, for him to play games. and just take the cable away from his Xbox.

Orcc

Im seconding the password/username. Thats the easiest way by far, without limiting people who are allowed to use the computer. This way you and your family can still use it, but he cant because he isn't informed about what the password is. The Xbox is easy, just take the controllers away, the game, the memory card, the power cable... anything or everything.

admjn65

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Originally posted by Puoltry
YOU need to beat your brothers ass.This is the simplest way to get him to straighten up.Just tell him this:If my internet gets yanked because of you im going kick your ass everyday.Think of it as "brotherly love".Very similar to group dynamics one person screws up the rest suffer.In this situation you would actully be doing him a favor before it got any worse.

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lol I like

yea I am feeling the username/password thing, I think I will run that by my dad and see what he thinks.
thanks for the advice guys

cukimunga

Yeah that sucks your dad is theatening to take it away. 2.O lol i did worse than that my senior year. I think half way through i had a .778 or something like that. But anyways. I would tell him to let you play since you can still keep good grades why should you have to suffer for you brothers bad grades.

peace

 

Alcanan

I'm sure if you approach your parents with a few rational idea they will find a way to keep your internet connection. There are alot of good ideas posted here already and if the hole family monitor the situation then things can get better.

1. Don't just take away the games from the child use it as a reward. " If you get all your work done and you can play for a hour "

2. Again reward good progress and punish poor work.

3. Is the gaming system in a public area the whole family uses and not in a private room ( bedroom, etc ) Best way to decrease the use of the computer, X-box etc is have it in a area the whole family uses so the amont of use is always being monitored. For example the computer in my house is right next to the kitchen so if the kids are using it we know what they are viewing/playing. Also the X-box is not in the bedroom it's hooked up to the same TV the cable is hooked up to so it's either TV or gaming so it reduces the amount of time they can play. And no TV or cable in the bedrooms.

Then again the kids have to fight over game/computer time with me anyway LOL, everyone has there hour a day for gaming after all chores/homework is done. This includes me the best way for a parent to enforce the rules on this kind of thing is to follow the same rules themselves, if you are limiting TV, Gaming etc to a child make sure you are not breaking you own rules that sets a really bad example.

4. As for the rational they can always play at a friends house, etc. Make sure you set a reasonable time to be home after school. And Make sure you check to see if they have there home work done. Since I have two sisters that are teachers I know most days there is home work to do so if the child is saying that there is no work to do all week something is wrong.

 

Thats enough ranting,

Thrift

Before he bans the internet make him take away your brothers xbox or get him to hide the cable modem from your brother as a scare its worth a try. Oh you can also tell your dad to give him a limit on how long he can play on the weekend and weekdays and you cam make sure he follows thoes rules

Katheryne

You don't really want my idea.  Honest!

As a parent myself, I am deeply concerned by this generation's complete apathy toward anything that isn't plugged into a wall and displayed on a TV screen.  I hardly ever see kids play outside anymore, and our nation's childhood obesity rate is a complete embarrassment.  I shudder to think that these fat, lazy, game-addicted kids will someday be in a position to run this country (provided they managed to make it to that age).

My solution to your problem is simple:  Keep the internet.  Cancel the WoW account.  Sell the X-Box.  And if his grades still don't improve - there's always military school.

Vampir

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Originally posted by Katheryne

You don't really want my idea.  Honest!
As a parent myself, I am deeply concerned by this generation's complete apathy toward anything that isn't plugged into a wall and displayed on a TV screen.  I hardly ever see kids play outside anymore, and our nation's childhood obesity rate is a complete embarrassment.  I shudder to think that these fat, lazy, game-addicted kids will someday be in a position to run this country (provided they managed to make it to that age).
My solution to your problem is simple:  Keep the internet.  Cancel the WoW account.  Sell the X-Box.  And if his grades still don't improve - there's always military school.

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katheryne thats so wrong, i care how the swuiireel i torture screams when, and that usually isnt plugged intoa  wall.

ok that was a bad joke.

well katheryne, look at the smaller european countires, like luxembourg for example. their kids have a significantly higher obesity rate, without a lot of our video games and such.

anyway katheryne, a game forum is probably the wrong audience for saying that. to a extent i agree with you. me being in someways the personification of everything wrong with my generation(im 16) i am in good physical exercise daily, and probably have more commen sense then most adults. but thats cus ive made too many mistakes to count and i should have had at least broken my neck by now, but by luck im in perfect shape(definetly not mentally).

but i know what its like, plenty of my classmates are like what you said. but i think its on a case by case basis.  some kids can play video games, and have game accounts, yet manage to be healthy. others dont have that talent ( or lack of something that should be there). I think more then the kids to blame its your generation, after all your responsible for our wellfare, adn our developing habbits to an extent, its the fact that YOUR GENERATION invented instant unhealthy foods such as the microwavable meals. Also your generation is responsible for having two workign parents therefore creating the condition of "latchkey" kids who develop there own habbits.

mind you its not all parents, but its your generation that started this. so please dont generalize my generation.

admjn65

well today my dad hasn't mentioned anything about it but if the subject comes up again im sure I can talk him out of canceling the internet
but it would be a shame if he did

vrtldave

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Originally posted by Katheryne
You don't really want my idea. Honest!
As a parent myself, I am deeply concerned by this generation's complete apathy toward anything that isn't plugged into a wall and displayed on a TV screen. I hardly ever see kids play outside anymore, and our nation's childhood obesity rate is a complete embarrassment. I shudder to think that these fat, lazy, game-addicted kids will someday be in a position to run this country (provided they managed to make it to that age).
My solution to your problem is simple: Keep the internet. Cancel the WoW account. Sell the X-Box. And if his grades still don't improve - there's always military school.

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sorry katherine I have to agree with vamp on this one... I might have a biased view(also 16) but you are underselling us kids... his brother does have a problem and I am sure not letting him play will ggreattly improve his grades but on the majority most of us do all the work and still ahve fun... just the medai highlights the extremes and thats what we associtate with things... eh... to tired to type mroe...

Puoltry

I remember when i was a kid my mom would tell me in the summer time after breakfast "go outside and play i dont want to see you until lunch time or unless you are injured".So i come back at lunch and im told to get lost until dinner.

I would play all day long.Go swim at the neighborhood pool with 3 of my buddies or go fishing or ride bikes in the woods by our houses.

Some of the games we would play?

I remember one that required a bucket of fish.We called it "fish baseball".Thats right replace the actual ball with fish and let the fun begin!!We got so many looks from people driving by in cars.Needless to say i had a blast as a kid.

These days a kid doesnt have the imagination to play outside all summer long.If it isnt on the xbox then they dont know what to do.The last thing on my mind when i was 16 was a computer it was girls girls girls.Im afraid i have to say that this generation has more than likely lost out on a childhood due to the internet.