Do your kids have a TV in their room?

[easleygrls]

"Dear" MIL bought DD7 a TV (even though I asked her not to). Right now it is in a closet, because I just think it is ridiculous for a 7YO to have a TV in her room. I hate to be one of those "When I was your age..." kind of parents, but really!

 

[Blondy876]

Yes, my oldest has had one since she was 4 (she is now 8). We, of course limit her time and what channels she has access to but, yes she has one. She spends more time reading and doing crafts and getting into things but she does use it.

Now I will sit back and wait for all the "perfect" dis parents to come on and tell me why I am a horrible parent and should have her taken away from me.
(Oh and I first got a TV in my room when I was 4, thanks to my grandmother, I'm 32 now BTW)

 

[KikiFan]

No flames from me! I think it's a personal decision.

I don't have one in my DD's room (11) because she watches enough TV as it is. I think I'd probably lose all control over it if she had it in her room. Right now she's a big reader and and craft person and I'd like it to stay that way!

 

[DisneyPhD]

Ours does not, and won't unless I really have a change of heart (never say never right?)

We do have one in our room, and the girls will lay in bed with us and watch T.V. We are hardly T.V. good two shoes. I let my girls watch way to much, just not in their rooms and we are rather careful about what they can watch. Dh will let them watch it at dinner (he always did growing up) but I don't like it.

In addition to the T.V. in our room, we have 2 on the main floor (front and back living rooms) and one in the spare bedroom. That makes my house sound a lot bigger then it is.

My mom took our T.V. away when I was a kid, sometimes I think she had the right idea, but I am too weak. There is a lot of good kids programs out there.

 

[bevtoy]

Yes they do, and DVD/VCr player's too they also have cell phones.
We have DISH TV with out any of the pay channels in A total of 5 televisions and 3 Desktop PC's. MP3 players too.
I don't have a problem with it but I monitor my children closely. If they act up then its Bye Bye electronics.
They are 10 years and 17 years old.
The whole family loves electronics.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I don't think there is anything wrong with a TV in the childrens rooms either.
I just tell them that they should turn it off at a certain time and not leave it on all night.
Most of the time they don't even turn them on.

 

[carrie s]

my kids dont have tv's in their rooms but all my kids except the youngest has a computer.my DH put some of their favorite tv show on the computer and they can watch DVD's.The computers have to be turned off at bedtime.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

My 2 y.o has a tv and DVD player in his room. He has turned it on 2 times in a year. I put it on for him in the morning so he can watch Playhouse Disney while I get ready for work. He sometimes watches Sprout when he gets home. Usually, though, he's merily playing with his toys while the tv provides background noise.

I always had unfettered access to a tv growing up, I had one in my room, and it was never an issue. I swam, rode bikes, and had more school activities than my mother wanted me to keep up with.

 

[SeaSpray]

My DSs are now 19 and 16 years old and have had a TV in their room since they were fairly young, probably around 4 or 5. Back then, and for MANY years, they ONLY watched video tapes on the TV, and ONLY when they were in their rooms for some quiet time and bedtime. When they got a bit older we hooked up basic cable to their TVs.

In retrospect, it did not make my kids addicted to TV, and in fact, they grew up watching hardly any TV at all. We/They never watched any of the dopey sitcoms that a lot of their friends watched. They simply didn't have an interest. Most of their TV viewing was done in the family room with me, and most of the time we'd put on Seinfeld reruns, DVD movies that we bought, or the History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. Of course when they were younger, the TV stayed on PBS where we'd watch Barnie, Sesame Street, and other kid shows. That's how *I* got broken of watching nighttime dramas and sitcoms. I always made sure the TV was set to kid-appropriate shows, even when that meant me missing the shows I watched before I had kids.

At bedtime they always did, and still do most of the time, fall asleep to channels like Nickelodeon and Disney, or a video/DVD, but they NEVER watched channels like MTV (and they still don't! LOL). They still only have basic cable in their bedrooms. TV is just not that big of a deal to them.

Anyway...this was my experience with kids and TV; the point is, a TV in a child's bedroom does not necessarily mean that television will overtake that child's life and interests. I do feel this is a personal issue though, and should be decided upon by the parents.

 

[TheGoofster]

We don't but simply because right now we don't have any extra money for one (every loose dime we get, or perhaps I should say peso) goes into our Disney fund.
I wouldn't mind having one there for my daughter to watch occasionaly. She doesn't watch much TV, but sometimes when my son is playing his Wii, and my wife is watching the small tv in our bedroom, my daughter would lilke to be able to watch a little tv in her room.
We do have a small portable DVD player that my FIL bought for us a couple of years ago, and that works OK, but the screen is only about 7 inches.

 

[Saphire]

No, my kids never had a TV in their room. DH and I don't have one in our bedroom either.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Do whatever you're comfortable with. I would not appreciate somebody getting something for my child that I had expressly said that I did not want them to have. My soon to be 18 year old daughter has had a tv in her room since she was 9 and my soon to be 9 year old son has had one in his room since he was 3. I'm comfortable with my choice. There are worse things in life than a tv in the bedroom.

 

[kirbsam]

no to tvs in the kids rooms. dont care what others do or think. doesnt make you a good parent or a bad parent. just a different way of thinking. just not my cup of tea.

 

[ZachnElli]

No, they don't and they won't. We have 4 tv's and 6 computers, I really don't see the need!

 

[va32h]

Do whatever you're comfortable with. I would not appreciate somebody getting something for my child that I had expressly said that I did not want them to have. My soon to be 18 year old daughter has had a tv in her room since she was 9 and my soon to be 9 year old son has had one in his room since he was 3. I'm comfortable with my choice. There are worse things in life than a tv in the bedroom.

That is really the issue here. There are lots of things parents decide they don't want their children to have: TV's, video games, Heelys, toy guns, Barbies, etc. It isn't anyone else's place to question those decisions but to respect them when giving a gift.

FTR my children do not have TV's exclusively in their rooms, but we do have a spare TV/VCR that we occasionally put in one of their rooms. If we are having company for example, and I don't want to have a movie on in the living room, I will let them watch a movie or show in one of their bedrooms.

 

[Aidensmom]

Yes, he has had it since he was 3. He has a DVD player too. His TV, however, is not hooked up to cable, and he only watches it for 1/2 hour at bedtime (he will watch a DVD) as it helps him relax and fall asleep, or sometimes a local pro sports game in the rare instance we are watching something else in the living room.

 

[CF'er]

Yes. They both have tv's, dvd players and DS has a PS2.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

i'm 22 and I had one in my room since i was prolly 4 or 5. it started out as a tv w/a built in vcr mainly to watch before bed b/c i didnt have cable in my room and then when i was 10 we had cable put in the bedrooms and I got my first "big tv" when I was 10 for my bday( i still actually have it and it spent all 4 yrs of college with me) and of course when I got in trouble it would be the first thing to go. I never had a computer in my room until I was a senior in high school and got one for my graduation present.

 

[java]

Nope- 4 children and I avoid the tv's ect in the room. Just the way we do it. We are really into family togetherness- not smothering though- Rooms are for reading or playing- the TV is in the family room. (In our home , it works for us whatever works for you is great too)

 

[mommasita]

Yes, they both do, as I do

They were VERY young when they had them. I think I started this with my son so he could watch Barney when he woke up at 3am ...I would put the cassette on, and he would go back to sleep. It was the only think that worked..

They each have a tv, but almost NEVER put it on..

I do, and love every minute of MY shows.