TVs in bedrooms of children

So today (for a very long and random reason) I took a poll of students in my classroom who had 2 TVs in their bedrooms... about 7 of them did. Seven 2nd grade students (ages 7-8 years old) had TWO TVs in their bedroom. I cannot wrap my mind around that one.

After that I asked how many of them did NOT have a TV in their room... only two students (out of 21) raised their hand.

I never had a TV in my bedroom, not once. I know times have changed but still... it certainly explains some of the grades these kids get.

I don't think I'd let my child have a TV in their room, at least not until they were teenagers and even then... granted, I don't have any children so maybe I'm being naive... but am I alone in this way of thinking?

You aren't alone. No glowing screens in Daughter's (8 years old) room... no TVs, computers, or DVD players. She has a wall of books, though, and a stereo in her bedroom.

No, i wouldnt give them a TV either till they are teenagers!

I feel the same way you do - my daughter is now 23 and never had a TV in her room when she was a child.

However I have a friend that grew up with a TV in her room, and she swears that it is good for her kids, and I can't convince her otherwise.

Her children stay up WAY past their bedtime watching DVDs, they don't get their homework done on time, they have complete hysterical fits if you try to punish them by turning off the TV sets.

Personally, I think that this is REALLY wrong, but I'm done raising my child and can't tell others how to raise theirs.

I didn't have a TV set in my bedroom until I had lived out of my parents' home for three years ... so I was about 22 when I got a TV in my bedroom (and then it was so I could play Sega Genesis games ... I'm so old skool! ).

I just don't think it's necessary. I had books, a stereo, and toys. What more did a kid need for entertainment? I don't intend for my kids to have a TV set in their room, either. The only reason I have one in my bedroom now is so that I can watch my exercise DVDs in peace, without having an audience while I work out. And two TV sets?!? Why would you need more than one? Even if you share a bedroom, how do you watch more than one TV at a time?

I didn't have one till I was 17...My sis won't let her kids have one they are 5, 9 and 11...I so wanted to get my niece the Princess TV but my sis says NO I understand, but I just LOVE to spoil them.

So Ari...the kids that DON'T have the TV in their room...Do they get good grades??

We only have one tv in the whole house, no cable, and definitely no tvs in the kids' rooms. My older son had a lap top in his room, but lost it due to improper use of it. Doesn't stop them from staying up too late though. I don't know if they're staring at the walls, but they're awake longer than I am.

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

You aren't alone. No glowing screens in Daughter's (8 years old) room... no TVs, computers, or DVD players. She has a wall of books, though, and a stereo in her bedroom.

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That's another thing - computers. I know that I got myself in quite a bit of trouble with a computer and I would closely monitor what my child looked at... I would probably have the computer in a common room where anyone could walk by and check up on whatever my child was doing.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Her children stay up WAY past their bedtime watching DVDs, they don't get their homework done on time, they have complete hysterical fits if you try to punish them by turning off the TV sets.

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There is a parent (not one of my student's) who's 2nd grader stayed up til 1am one school night. The teacher asked why and the mother said it was because her son was watching TV and she "tried to make him turn it off but he wouldn't listen". 1am watching TV?! I would've taken that TV out of his room and he would be lucky to even watch it again.

Originally Posted by pinkdaisy226

That's another thing - computers. I know that I got myself in quite a bit of trouble with a computer and I would closely monitor what my child looked at... I would probably have the computer in a common room where anyone could walk by and check up on whatever my child was doing.

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That's the best scenerio. We had to do that to a few adults here at work. *ahem*
That and a Parental Control program where you don't give out of the password for the administrator.

Anyways, the only time I had a TV in my room when I was younger was if I was too sick to walk downstairs and watch it. Otherwise books, books, more books for me.

I have three boys. They each have a TV and a computer in their rooms. They were 7,10 and 12 when we moved into the new house and we were able to provide these things for them. That was 7 years ago.

Their computers are monitored very closely. DH is an IT guy so there isn't anything they can try to pull that he doesn't know about. The TV is for xbox, play-station and such but they do have basic cable as well.

Now here are a few rules that go along with this privilege, because it is a privilege not a right! I don't care how old you are if you are going to school you will obey the rules! Even my oldest who has graduated last May followed these rules right up to graduation last year!

1. no computers during the school week. Unless you maintain a "B" average.

2. no games during the school week. Unless you maintain a "B" average.

3. Tv's are off at 8 every-night during the week. If you would like to join me in the living room to watch with the family until bedtime great. The only time they really watch tv in their room is with Family guy or The Simpson's. I don't care for them and they love them.

4. weekends are game and computer time. IF you don't have at least a "C" average than there will be no computers or games period!

There is no " I don't want to turn off my TV!" No fits or whatever! I don't put up with that! Are my kids perfect Heck No! So there are other times when they lose these privileges.

I just don't understand people who say they can't control their kids! I see it at work and it drives me crazy!

I had a tv in my bedroom from when I was 12. However I didn't watch that much on it, the news, some stuff on discovery, tlc, or the history channel. My tv watching habits are still much the same now.
I did stay up late a lot, tv wasn't the problem, books were.
I'd read till 3 or 4 am with a flashlight under the blankets.

I had books, a very old record player, art supplies, an old typewriter (I fancied myself as a novelist from about age 6 ), and a guitar. We had a TV in the sitting room which I would watch occasionally, watching TV was a family activity and revolved around favourite programmes such as Doctor Who, Blake's 7, and we also used to watch a lot of nature programmes. I spent more time reading and being creative than watching telly though!

My brother and I never had TVs in our rooms growing up. My youngest brother who is 14 now has had one in his room for a couple of years, but he doesn't abuse it at all. I don't think I'll allow my children to have TVs in their rooms either.

When we got our first color TV (yes, I'm that old), the old black-and-white came to my room, a great big Early American console model plopped down among my pink satin bedspread and Degas ballerina drapes. Many's the late, late night I huddled three inches from the blue light of the screen, struggling to hear with the sound as low as it would go. God knows how much radiation I absorbed, sitting so close!

In those days, though -- the late '60s -- the content on television was so different, so much less destructive to kids. I grew up on Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Star Trek (the original Star Trek, not its descendants), Underdog, Mission: Impossible, The FBI, and that wonderful British import, The Avengers (the Diana Rigg years).

On those shows, I don't remember seeing people behave with the callous self-interest that's so common on TV today. Even the bad guys were not as bad as some of the heroes are now! Watching these shows, I grew up with a healthy disregard for social status, some basic compassion for others, and the understanding that success means nothing if you don't achieve it honorably.

It chills me to see what kids get from television now. These are the people who will grow up to lead the world! What kind of world will it be if they think it's all about money, status, and self-indulgence?

I won't even try to address the advertising issue. We all know that the ads are using peer pressure dynamics to make young people feel like they're just plain inferior if they don't wear the right designer, drive the right car, drink the right beer...

There are a couple of very nice young people -- 21, I think -- who have become friends of mine, and I love them dearly. They have genuinely good hearts. But they also think that the purpose of life is to make as much money as possible, and that the purpose of having money is to be able to go out and get drunk every weekend.

They claim to be "smart about it," though -- because before they get "too drunk to drive," they all go to somebody's house where they can stay the night, playing drinking games until they run out of liquor. This is their form of recreation, the expression of their individuality, the context within which they relate to one another.

And these are good kids.

I don't know whether denying kids access to TV is the solution or not, though. It's a losing battle -- the media are everywhere. Maybe the answer is not to try to protect them from all that, but to educate them, to arm them with the critical judgment it takes to see through the manipulative techniques behind the barrage of media messages they face every day.

I think it all comes down to close, meaningful, daily interaction with parents. That's the only real solution I see.

I believe I got my TV when I was 5, before my sister came along I was a very spoiled little girl, well-behaved but spoiled but if I remember correctly, gave my sister my TV around the age of 12 or so (she was 6) I never watched it really and our computer was always out in the dining room. In all the places that I lived since I moved out of my parents' I have NEVER had a TV in my room either

Originally Posted by Bella713

So Ari...the kids that DON'T have the TV in their room...Do they get good grades??

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One of them yes, she's a very good student and she gets great grades. The other one is a bright kid but he makes careless mistakes or doesn't listen/follow directions, so generally he doesn't make that good of grades.

You know something? I'm 25 and I still don't have a TV in my room. When I got married, we had a TV in our bedroom and after a few months I said I wanted it out... something about me saying, 'okay let's go to bed' and watching my husband turn off the TV in the living room... and then walk to the bedroom and turn on THAT TV bothered me. Bedrooms are for sleeping, relaxing, reading... and other bedroom things ( ), in my mind. But that's just my take on it, and it's strange that I think that because I know my parents have always had a TV in THEIR room...

Mine have only had the TV in their room since they were 12 and 13 - and only then because when we moved, we lost the 'study' which was their playroom/Playstation room. I lasted about 2 weeks with the PS2 hooked up to the TV in the lounge and decided enough was enough.

They are big enough now (14/15) to know the rules - not until homework is done, and when it is bedtime, that is IT. The only exception is Saturday night when they get to stay up and watch the football highlights.

Touch wood, so far they haven't pushed the boundaries - I am hoping that tey are behaving because they have been given a treat and don't want to lose it. That is always the first threat for misbehaviour though - '"Do that again and the TV goes out of your room................." (works like a charm!!!)

I had a TV as a kid....a very old black and white one that only worked to play an educational video game system my mother got me. There was no cable. I didn't get a stereo till I was about 14. My kids won't be having tv's. I had a friend in jr high who's 3 year old sister had a tv, and was allowed to watch movies with full nudity in them and some gore too. That still baffles me.