Do your kids have a TV in their room?

[Southern4sure]

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.

I could have written this post eaxctly except I have cable instead of Satellite. My kids are 11 & 17. Mine each have a game system too.

 

[MrsPete]

Nope. No TVs in bedrooms for anyone at my house, myself included. There's too much on TV (even without cable) that isn't child-appropriate, and enough things in our lives pull our family in different directions -- we don't need to sit in different rooms watching different shows!

My oldest has "slipped up" and mentioned some things about a show she isn't allowed to watch, and when questioned she admitted she'd watched it late at night when I was already in bed (she was discussing the shows with her friends, and I guess she forgot I was right there -- I waited until we were alone to question her). If she's sneaking a little bit of "non-approved" TV in the living room, what would she be able to do if she had unfettered access? It's not that I don't trust her -- she's a great kid who does the right thing probably 95% of the time. It's a matter of limiting access to temptations.

Just for the record, we have two televisions: one in the living room and one in the office -- both very public areas of our house.

I agree with another poster though: the real issue here is that grandma bought the TV even though she knew you were against it -- right or wrong, it's YOUR decision to make. She put you in a lose-lose situation, and the only option at this point is to return it and remind her that you'd already decided no TVs in kids' rooms. Do it politely, but don't back down. If you do, you're in for more trouble in the future with other boundary issues.

 

[robinb]

No, mine does not have a TV in her room. We have one in the living room and another in the guest aka "tv room" where she can watch it.

 

[LadyBears]

Technically, yes. DD7 has had a TV in her room with a VCR, DVD player, & a PS2 for several years. The TV is not hooked up to cable. Without reception, the TV is a glorified monitor. If she doesn't want to watch whatever sport DH is watching & she doesn't want to or shouldn't be watching what I want to watch, she can watch one of her movies. I think since Christmas, she has played PS2 - MAYBE three times. Two of those were for about 30 minutes when she had a friend over.

Her cable viewing of "her" shows is limited to a few minutes in the morning while she is getting dressed & at most 2 hours in the evening (depending on the day).

She, like me, tends to put it on for background noise while she is doing something else. She prefers the "musicals" so she can sing along to the songs.

She is too active to just sit still & watch TV.

FTR - the only reason she even has those is because we upgraded in other areas of the house so she got the "hand me downs" (& I didn't have to sit through one more episode of Barney!!!!!! ). The only thing she got new was the DVD player, but even then, it was a cheapie - maybe $20.00 on sale.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I got a TV in my room when I returned from college my freshman year. My parents redid our downstairs and bought a new television so I got the old one. My brother and sister used my room as a study/social area when I was at school so it gave them an extra tv to watch a movie with friends if they both had friends over at the same time.

And I am the only TV in the house without digital cable so when that goes out everyone crowds in my room.....

 

[CourtasanSatine]

My sister and I have our own tvs(cuts down in fights during NASCAR especially since she's a huge race fan and I love old movies and science fiction)

 

[lemondog]

I totally agree with you, OP. Age 7 is way too young to have a TV in her room, IMO.

I had to be 12, my kids will also have to be 12.

 

[welovewdw]

This is really interesting to me - we have 4 kids, none of them have had tv's in their rooms. We do have an upstairs family room, which has a TV w/ cable (no pay channels) and xbox 360, which works as a DVD player. Our kids are 18, 16, 9 and 6 mo. (the 6 mo. year old could care less )

I have to say, I WISH I could be consistent on this, but there have been years (school years more or less) where I really stuck to limiting TV to only weekends. It was GREAT for my kids - when I stuck to it, they really turned into old fashioned kids, playing outside more, with toys like pogo sticks, bikes, etc - really healthy, if you know what I mean. I didn't even want video games a long time ago. However, I wasn't as consistent with this as I would have liked to have been. Mostly due to my son's swimming ability (or lack of swimming ability) but that's an entirely different story

In any case, we're a very tech savvy family, kids included - and I still have the kids computers in the downstairs family room or office - it's not that I don't trust them, it's just that they're kids. When I read about kids being taken advantage of online, it's always a good kid, with great parents, who is just naive - and honestly, good kids tend to be that way, imo. My kids just aren't worldly - we've made a real effort for them to remain kids, enjoy their childhood and be KIDS - like we were when we were little!

I'm rambling here rotfl: ) But my point is, whatever works for you is great - we've chosen to limit TV time sort of, (even though I'm not as good as I wish I were) and if you do better than I did, it's not a bad thing. We also monitor computer usage carefully - I truly think the best way to do this is by being there when your kids are online - but ymmv.

let me add: Just wait til' you have teenagers! Teaching your kids how to navigate myspace and facebook safely is a whole 'nother post!

 

[miss missy]

nope, don't like the idea. I want her with me when she is clicking... too much crap out there.

 

[Nancy]

My kids have them and have had them for as long as I can remember...BUT they were bought by us, not someone else...and they were bought when we wanted. I would not be happy if someone went against my wishes.

I am a huge TV junkie, TV is on all the time..most times it is just background noise and the girls grew up with the TV. Funny thing is that they don't watch it all that much. They are on but they do other things, I think they are like me, it is just background noise. My TV is actually on all night, I can't sleep without the noise. When we lost power as soon as it shut off I was wide awake.

 

[crazee4mickey]

All 4 of our kids have a TV plus DVD player in their room (DS 9 also has a VCR) and 3 of them also have all of their video game systems hooked up as well (the TV's are not connected to any cable or satellite so it has to be DVD movies we know about or nothing!).
They are all active kids who play sports and have friends so its not like they "hide out" in their rooms just to watch TV!
They are closely monitored on what they watch and it is usually a bit before bedtime or during time when they just want to relax away from all the "kid stress"!

 

[NotAmused]

I remember I got my first TV when I was in third grade. My parents bought it for me because I got straight A's. (And, yes, my grades stayed the same even though I had a tv in my room )


I agree with others, for me, the TV was mostly background noise. I would have Disney or Nick on while I played, tried to fall asleep, etc. But, when I have kids, I think I would be pretty annoyed if someone bought my child something after I said no, but that situation is easy to fix

 

[JadenLayne]

Didn't read all the threads but DS (now 15) has always had a T.V. in his room. He used to go to sleep with Barney on the T.V. at night. Now he goes to sleep watching Boy Meets World for the zillionth time.

 

[SydSim]

DD-10 has had one in her room for years. It does have a parental rating control on it. She can only watch PG and below (G, Y-7, etc.) shows. She only watches tv on the weekends.

I don't really believe that just having a tv in a child's room is the problem. Anything done in excess can be a problem. IF a child doesn't have a tv in their room, but plays a PSP in his room for hours at a time, that can be a problem. Anything done by a child, unmonitored, can be a problem. A child may not have a tv in her room, but watches the family tv unmonitored, and sees things that she shouldn't on a daily basis.

Lastly, whatever works in your house................

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Every time any one of the kids had a TV in her room for any period of time I would go into the room in the early morning or late hours of the night and find the TV on...usually playing Adult Swim!

So NO. I'm evil. I am a mean, mean mom. They can have TVs in their rooms when they own their own places.

 

[mumto2]

I totally understand where OP is coming from - I had a very similar situation, only the culprit was my OWN mother. My younger brother went through a rough patch from the age of about 12 until... well, let's just say he's a good guy now that he's in his 30s. Several times that I can remember, my mom told me later that giving him his own TV at a young age was a bad idea. He was a very quiet, moody kid, and she stated that turning his room into a place he had no incentive to come out of and be with the rest of the family (not just the TV, but the video games, stereo, etc.) made him withdraw even more. Of course, she also accepts that this was not the root cause of his problems, but still...

So what does darling Mummy do? Knowing that DH and I are very strict on what DD (5 at the time) is allowed to watch, and how much of it she is allowed to watch, she brings DDs big suprise birthday present to our house for DD to open in front of everyone. Thanks, Mom, what a great Mickey Mouse shaped TV and DVD player

To this day, it has not gone into DDs room (she's 8 now). Instead, it sits in the room we use as an office/playroom, and is used for DVDs and karaoke only. IMHO, DD has enough opportunity to spend time alone in her room reading and playing. Any viewing or computing needs to be done in the common areas of our home. That way, we know what is going on, and can share in it with her, and talk about things that might raise questions. I'm not passing judgement on others, but family viewing is a concept that really works for us. I can't think of a cooler way to spend a Friday night than making popcorn and curling up on the couch with DD to watch the latest all-new episode of Hannah Montana.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Our kids don't have TVs in their room. If they want to watch TV, they watch their show on the family TV.

 

[CEDmom]

No, she doesn't and I don't imagine she ever will. She's an only child and we already have 2 tv's so she can easily watch what she wants on those. I just don't see the need for it. As I see it she'll either watch too much and it'll become a battle I just don't need or hardly at all and then what's the point. We do have a portable DVD player and occasionally I've let her take that into her room and watch it. However, she really isn't into electronics much at all. Sometimes she'll play on my laptop but most everything else is completely foreign to her.

 

[aprilgail2]

Mine does, she has had it sice she was about 2 or so, she also has playstation, a computer with internet access and she has a DVD player. I have the same things in my room. I had a TV in my room as a kid too.

 

[sunlver]

Oh gosh.. this topic all sparks debates

My son is almost 13, he does have his own tv. Mostly he uses it to play his Playstation etc..

My daughter is almost 8 and she has one too. She doesnt watch all that much tv in her room. The older kids have rules about the tv and when its to be turned off at night etc..When they break the rules, the tv is gone.

My almost 3 yr old does not have her own tv, and wont for many years.