Is it OTT to never let your child have a TV/games console in their bedroom?

[BasinHaircut]

My son is currently 10 so I think it’s perfectly fine for all TV and gaming to be done downstairs for now, we have kitchen/diner/family open plan room and also a separate lounge and this is where DS currently plays his games console and watches shouty YouTubers. So we can keep an eye on him but equally he can have his own space. It means we don’t have to have his friends upstairs when they come over and we have half an idea what they are doing.

I don’t want TVs in bedrooms because I think it’s really easy to fall into bad habits re bedtime, I.e. falling asleep to the tv day in day out. Plus at his age, getting DS to switch the TV off and go to sleep would be a constant battle.

DH and I haven’t had a TV in our bedroom since we moved to this house when DS was a baby. We have a small TV that we bring out if someone is poorly so they can stay in bed and watch TV, but its not a permanent feature so we are practicing what we preach.

We are about to do DS’s bedroom, as it’s a bit babyish for him now, and he needs a desk for homework etc. He wants a TV and console in his room, DH thinks he is ‘old enough’ but I say no way. Still too young and as we have a space he can socialise in downstairs, I can’t see why he ever needs these things upstairs.

In this house a bedroom is for sleeping in but we had a dedicated play space so my two children are lucky enough to have a room downstairs as well as their own bedrooms upstairs.

That means all playing and later gaming/YouTube/internet happens in that room downstairs. Phones were handed over at night. You have to consider that he will need a computer or laptop for homework for secondary and you need to decide where that homework will take place. We had a homework time slot so that it forced the issue of getting it done and out of the way. Then tech after that before dinner.

As teens they want to watch their own things so having a tv somewhere else, maybe in your family room might be a something to consider too. They stay up later and if all entertainment is downstairs then they are downstairs.

So many of my friend's children had games consoles in their bedrooms and lots of them gave into temptation of playing when they shouldn't be, so instead of sleeping or doing homework. Children are resourceful, one child handed over his controller every night so his parent thought it was safe but his mate had given him one in secret so they would game in the middle of the night.

As a parent of a now 20 year old and 17 year old I am glad we didn't allow tech in their bedrooms. I agree with @InTheFutilityRoomEatingBiscuits "I don’t see any need for even a teenager to have their phone in their room, gives them no place that’s safe from the incessant messages and demands"

I think it’s normal not to have tv in bedrooms. You already have a second living space, so definitely no need for it to be in the bedroom.

Dts are 12 and don't have any interest in gaming, so that's solved that question. They don't have TVs in their rooms either but they do have laptops and stream on those. All tech out of bedroom at night.

Thanks all, looks like DH is in the minority and not me then.

Getting some other good tips here too. DS doesn’t have a phone yet but am considering letting him have one at Xmas. No phones upstairs is a rule I think I will also impose. Might get an actual alarm clock and start doing that myself!