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Original poster

Gaming in Bedrooms - Advice please

22 replies

Lovelymum20 · 17/09/2019 12:15

We currently have an Xbox in our lounge. My children are limited to how long they can go on it but was wondering what people thought about them playing in their bedrooms. They are 11 and 7. Alot of their mates have them in their rooms and they cant see why they cant, when they have mates over it would be nice to sit in my lounge and they played in their rooms. Just wanted peoples thoughts please

OP posts:
SlavesToTheKitchen · 17/09/2019 12:20

I'd think very, very carefully about that. Once you allow one type of screen in their room it'll be hard to justify keeping phones out!
I wouldn't want mine gaming alone in their room. Mainly if their behaviour starts to deteriorate I can put an immediate stop to it.

escapade1234 · 17/09/2019 12:28

No no, never ever. This is the one parental decision DH and I have made that we intend to stick to. I’d rather sit in the kitchen with a magazine when they have friends over than allow video games in bedrooms.

I’m happy for them to play a few games but I’m determined “gaming” will not be something my children will devote their free time to.

lazylinguist · 17/09/2019 12:31

Not happening in this house! One tv and console in the house, only allowed in the living room. Phones aren't allowed in rooms after bedtime either.

Ilovewillow · 17/09/2019 12:37

It would be a no in our house. We don't have tv's, Gaming or phones in bedrooms - they have a playroom or the lounge. Our's are 11 and 6.

SpoonBlender · 17/09/2019 12:37

Keep it in the lounge.

I do, and I'm 47.

ExpletiveDelighted · 17/09/2019 12:38

No, not here either, consoles stay in the living room. DH and I just make ourselves busy somewhere else in the house when they have friends over.

Soola · 17/09/2019 12:53

Not something I allowed when mine lived at home.

pumkinspicetime · 17/09/2019 13:13

We have one very large tv in lounge, everyone has to negotiate time on it.
Yes that can get irritating at times but it gives us a reasonable idea of what dc are doing.
DH and DC use it for gaming either together or their own games.
Visiting friends are given space to play on it, I will go to another room.
DC have only just started secondary school and I don't want them squirreled away in their rooms on screens.

WhyAmIThatWoman · 17/09/2019 13:23

We recently moved my 12 year old son's PlayStation into his bedroom but we live in a bungalow so when he's on it, he has his bedroom door open so I can be in the living room and still know what he's doing. I don't think I'd let him have it in his bedroom if he was upstairs and shut away in his room.

Overseasmom100 · 17/09/2019 13:39

Ours was in the lounge when DS was your childrens age and I was adament I would not let it go in his bedroom.

However he's now 14 and I realised that as they get older and start to play with friends their own age it changes. Kids go on it later due to later bed times, plus he chats about school stuff and uses it as a communication tool...so we decided it could go in his room but there were guidelines as in he had to come off at a certain time, and if he shouts and gets too loud he off. It works well.

tactum · 17/09/2019 13:45

At that age I think you're right to keep it in the lounge, but good luck with teenagers!!! You do invariably want to relax and watch different things, not want to listen to Xbox noise.
We now have a 15 and 17 year old and have 1 tv, 1 pc in kitchen with access to iplayer and DS does now have his Xbox in his bedroom.
HOWEVER, we also have no phones or Xbox controllers in bedroom after a certain time and all are kept in my room overnight. I think that is compromise. And obv if homework is suffering items are removed!

PaddyF0dder · 17/09/2019 13:49

Don’t do it.

I work in CAMHS. So many kids have far too much tech in their bedrooms. Bad for sleep. Bad for daily function. Bad for mental health.

I will NEVER put a tv or a games console in one of my kids bedrooms. Not after what I’ve encountered at work.

GeoffreyAndBungle · 17/09/2019 13:55

No screens in bedrooms is the rule in this house. So no TVs, phones, xboxes...... bedrooms are for sleeping so all toys and tech are downstairs.

It has been proven that screen time before bed can affect sleep and my kids need a LOT of sleep (or they are tired and grumpy ).

InvisibleWomenMustBeRead · 17/09/2019 14:03

Ours is in another room, not in any bedrooms. They do all beg for their own in their bedrooms but I'm sticking with no.

Charles11 · 17/09/2019 14:08

Never here either. So many kids waste hours of their time gaming. You’d be surprised how many are on their games consoles or Netflix til 3am. Their parents don’t have a clue.

JetPlanesMeeting · 17/09/2019 14:16

My friend told me that it was fine to have screens in bedrooms until she discovered her son was gaming for hours in the middle of the night. She only found out because he had an alarm set on his phone (also in his room) for 1am! She didn't realise because she had an en-suite so never had a need to leave her bedroom and notice the light.

We are fortunate enough to have a playroom/den and the computers are in there. We have always had this in all houses we have lived in so all toys/games etc have been in there are and bedrooms are for sleeping in. No tvs in their rooms either.

DS's are now 16 and 13, they are definitely on tech for far shorter times than their mates but sleep and being able to function without melting down is more important than being cool with your mates.

We do have a TV inside a wardrobe in our bedroom though so maybe you could look to have a tv in your room for when you want to watch something when they are gaming.

spiderlight · 17/09/2019 16:17

DS is 12. Ours is in the lounge but he's allowed to take it into his room if he has a friend over after school (but it comes straight back downstairs afterwards) or a weekend/holiday sleepover. This is So Unfair, obviously, but tough!

OrangeJustice · 17/09/2019 16:30

Ds has a pc in his bedroom. He’s 12. It’s caused no issues. Same rules apply re amount of time allowed as when it he used the family one downstairs. We’ve got a very small house and there’s no way we could tolerate him in the living room on his headset playing Fortnite with his friends and the amount of giggling and tittering that goes on. He had to keep the door open and any complaining or breaking of rules and he’d be sanctioned accordingly. But he hasn’t once yet.

I’ll probably get slated for Fortnite too now. But we can hear the game play (due to aforementioned tiny house) and it’s all good natured banter and laughing so we’ve no worries there.

And there’s no way he’s get away with switching it on in secret at night. The walls are paper thin and I’m a light sleeper.

I think it depends on the child tbh op. Ds has been into gaming for a long while but he’s never misbehaved because of it in anyway so we didn’t have an issue. Depends what your ds attitude is generally.

Augend · 17/09/2019 16:43

Same here. PC has been in bedroom since he started playing Minecraft on it about yr5. No problems here.

Adversecamber22 · 17/09/2019 17:00

I have gamed for decades and for that reason DS was not allowed his console in his room till he was 16. It’s not the games it’s the people they may party up with that’s the biggest issue as well as addiction to gaming but non gamers focus on the content. You don’t want your dc partying up with adults who will not only swear but will shit talk and also discuss really dodgy stuff. Let alone the potential to groom. Some games have open game chat, make sure the setting on their consoles are child friendly.

escapade1234 · 17/09/2019 17:02

When did “game” become a verb? 🤔

roseunicornblower · 17/09/2019 17:09

My sons PS4 is in his room, if I tell him to come off it he does no bother.

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