One way to help your tween get control of her high-tech habit is to have her withdraw gradually by lessening the amount of time she is allowed to devote to watching TV, playing videogames, and using the computer. Another is to have her go cold turkey. Either way, she'll probably need help adjusting.

After being forbidden to pick on her siblings, she may try to drown her misery in sodas and assuage her jangled nerves with high-calorie comfort foods before deciding that if she is going to have to suffer, the villain who caused her so much grief deserves to suffer, too. At that point, you may become the target of her ill will.

However, rest assured that your child will adjust in amazingly short order if you help her. Here is what you will need to do:

• Stay firm. Don't cave in to the accusations of unfairness. The typical pattern for tweens is to settle down after limits have been consistently set for about five days. However, expect a resurgence of complaints when the household schedule changes. If you start setting limits during the school week, she is apt to have difficulties structuring her time during the first weekend and on the first few days of the next week when school resumes.

• Provide heavy doses of TLC and suggestions about how to relax and work off excess energy. Be sympathetic as you encourage her to ride her bike, ride her scooter, shoot baskets, or run around the block.

• Teach her to handle leisure time by helping her figure out other fun things to do.

If that sounds as though life is going to be terribly difficult, keep in mind that once the adjustment period is over, it should be much easier than when she was exploding masses of aliens, pummeling kickboxers, and spending hours vegging out in front of the TV.