Meanwhile, we have thought about putting a timer on our modem to prevent the boys from staying up all night playing games.  Obviously we don't want to do that right now given our recent problems.  I'm just wondering if you've heard of people doing this before and if it causes problems with the modem or wifi.  

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There are several ways to limit your child’s access to t.v. or video games. A battle I’ve personally been fighting in my own home for some time. Kids are very resourceful however and it’s very hard to stay ahead of them. Ultimately I’ve found that it’s a good idea to use several approaches and continue to check behind yourself. Kids can often circumvent your plans then reset things so you don’t know they’ve done it.

First you have to admit that they are smarter than you. Once you’ve realized that, then you can move forward. Depending on the game system, some have better parental controls than others. XBox has decent parental controls but remember that your children are experts at this device. So you better have your act together if you’re going to put time limits on the XBox. The Wii has very weak parental controls and I don’t have any experience on the Playstation world so I can’t say anything about that.

You may also consider checking your TV’s actual parental controls. Some TV’s have time limit settings. Some routers has the ability to block access to certain devices at certain times. This blocks access to online gaming but not other gaming. There’s also physical lock boxes like power cop. These have timers built in to them that you would plug the tv into. They come with keys that you use to unlock the power cords plugged in. A very good solution.

Ultimately you want to use a combination of these with the expectation that you will constantly check to see if your child has found a work around. Your child is much more resourceful and persistent than you are!