Home > Consumer Reviews > BOB - Screen Time Manager - Manage Your TV Time

Bob's the best! No more arguing over media time -- all video games, dvds and television shows go through this simple device. Bob is very easy to set up and use. Each user has an unique code, so one child can't "use up" all the time allocated for t.v. One of my children would use all their weekly time in one day, so I am able to set up his account by the day. My daughter, on the other hand, can monitor herself so much better that we set her account up by the week.

Bob arrived at our house a few weeks ago.

My kids think he's a bad guy because he's always turning off the computer right in the middle of their games.

But they're quickly learning to work with Bob. To negotiate for more time or to limit themselves to the hour or two that Bob gives them.

Bob is a TV Time Manager. And it's not really a guy. It's this small electronic device that you plug into your TV, computer, or videogame into, and then you can set specific time limits and time blocks for up to six different children.

In our house we don't have a problem with the kids watching too much TV, as they only turn it on by themselves on Saturday and Sunday mornings when they're allowed to watch DVD cartoons for an hour or two. So far they've been good about regulating themselves on that.

What we do have a problem with is computer games. My son, especially, likes to play games at the free online sites, like NeoPets and Yahoo Games. We give him an hour a day, usually just after dinner. But that hour goes quickly, and he's so caught up in the action that he forgets the time.

That's where Bob comes in. For computers, you can plug the monitor's electrical cord into Bob, which has a locked outlet so the kids can't simply plug the cord back into the wall outlet. Then your child types in his own 4-digit pin number, and Bob will turn the monitor on for the amount of time the child is allowed. When the alloted time is just about up, Bob gives a 60-second countdown, so your child knows he'd better finish up the game.

You can also set up time blocks when Bob will refuse to accept a PIN, so your kids can't play games or watch TV during hours of the day when they should be doing other things.

It's all worked wonderfully with our son. He has no reason to complain, because we all agreed on how much time he would have on the computer each night. I don't have to watch the clock, and my son is learning a little something about time management.

Bob has an extremely simple interface. It's easy to use, and easy for the kids to understand. They can see right on the screen how much time they've used. Parents can give more time as a reward, or take away time as a punishment.

I have had the privelage of using one of the first BOBs and have been truly impressed. My kids were watching too much TV. WIth BOB, I've managed to decrease their TV time from 20 hours per week to 10. And the arguements have ended! They manage their own time and BOB enforces it. I don't need to worry about them sitting in front of the TV watching endlessly. BOB also works really well with computers. It's given me peace of mind knowing that they are not Internet surfing late at night after I've gone to sleep. BOB is simple to set-up and simple to use! Everyone should have one.

Multiple pediatric studies link excessive television to later development of obesity, ADHD, insomnia, and various other emotional and behavioral disorders. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting children's television watching to one to two hours of quality programming per day. BOB is a system to help enforce these limits.

There are several advantages to using a system like this:
First, it limits our children's time on the TV even when my wife and I are not around.
Second, kids learn to manage their time themselves. If they watch too much early in the week then they run out of minutes until the timer resets at the end of the week.
Lastly, we spend less time yelling at our kids to turn off the TV. The box does the job for us.

Does it really work? It does in our family. My wife was initially quite skeptical but now loves the system. Our kids accepted the limits pretty quickly.

Our first electronic system to limit our kid's TV was the "TV Allowance". That device is a nice idea, but poorly implemented and much too complicated. I'm a technophile but I was usually confused. BOB is a clear improvement: Easier to use, Better display, More flexible (can program for hours per day or per week.)

The only Con I can think of is no battery back up.

If only it could limit the TV to "Quality" programs!

We have used EyeTimer in the past, but it wouldn't work with our new DLP Projection TV. I really like the flexibility of the Eyetimer to be able to specify one time bank for all devices in the house, and different time allowances for different days of the week... but this does the job of keeping the kids off the TV/Video games efficiently enough. We just don't give them any default time, and they have us add it whenever they have done the appropriate activity or chores.