7 Ways to Short-Circuit Kids' Mobile Addiction Part 1

With desktop computers, one of the best ways to stop compulsive gamers from overdoing it is to keep the family computer in a public place, said Ofir Turel, a researcher at the California State University, Fullerton.

"If the parents know how much time the kids play and they see what they're doing on the computer, the kids are reluctant to behave freely on the Internet," Turel said.

Unfortunately, portable devices such as smartphones or tablets are trickier to control. But if kids are playing on a parents' device, preventing kids from taking devices back to their own room can be a good way to limit game play. And consider whether the child actually needs his or her own device, most younger children don't.