Hey Parents! I hate to tell you, but there is no such thing as useful instant messaging. Your crafty child might try to take advantage of your lack of Techie know how when they say in that whiney voice... But MomIm IMing my friends about homework. Do not buy it! They are simply playing up the school is important bit so they can get you off their back.

To be fair, yes kids might spend a couple minutes discussing their school assignments. But for every 30 seconds of actual work, another 30 minutes are lost in useless chatter with the hundred or so friends on their buddy list! And if your child consistently pulls the I didnt know the assignment excuse, then bigger school problems than measure messaging are on the horizon.

You may easily stop the hours upon hours of instant messaging with one simple gesture PULL THE PLUG! Now, I do not really mean to literally pull the plug out of the computer on your child. The last thing we want to do is get into a power struggle with your child, or break your $1500 computer.

No, what I mean is simply lay down the law. Allocate a clear-cut period of measure messaging instant per day. One hour of IMing is not going to kill anyone or their social life. And in that one hour time slot they will have plenty of time to discuss homework, their teacher, the new kid in class, or whatever.

Right now you might be saying, That sounds workable Chris, but what happens when my kid refuses to adhere to the allotted measure ? When your child disregards your house rules it simply means they have too much free of cost time on their hands. We all know that idleness is the devils playground. It might be measure to up their chore responsibilities. Or sign them up for an after school art class or even a sport or karate. Sometimes the best answer is to simply spend some quality measure with them. Set up a time each day to play scrabble, take a stroll or cook something together. It really doesnt matter what it is, just play to your kids interests and keep them busy.

The internet is a great tool, especially when it comes to education and homework. In the future we might expect to see an even greater merger of it with our every day lives. However, right now its the nice stealer of measure . Getting sidetracked is very effortless , (as some of you might know) and with the media induced, shortened attention spans of our children, whole young lives could waste away online. Teach your kids to utilize the Internet and Instant Messaging as intended. Sometimes we use it for work; sometimes we use it for play. Just be sure your kids understand the difference between the two.

Chris Pizzo is the President of Noble Learning Systems Inc. and the developer of the NEW Amazing Homework Motivator script.

Why are thousands of kids happily sitting down to do their homework each and every night