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Original poster

To not understand why children need a TV in their room?

361 replies

mrsruffallo · 28/06/2009 22:35

Following on from another thread-I am quite surprised how many kids have a TV in their bedrooms.
Surely they can read to go to sleep?
Or watch the one in the living room?
Come and enlighten me, why do children need their own one?

OP posts:
ahundredtimes · 30/06/2009 19:33

I think televisions used to be very expensive, and were a huge outlay. Now you can get cheaper combi sets - which are even bought as presents - but nobody can quite bring themselves to throw away the old sets - that seems decadent. So that's why there's such a lot of televisions?

chegirl · 30/06/2009 19:40

Do you think the reason why more poorer children have tvs in their rooms is because their parents dont give a toss about them? That they want to lock their feral offspring away and forget about them so they can skin up in the shag piled front room and neck a few special brews?

The middle class parents obviously adore their gifted, slim children and want to spend every minute of every day with them or taking them to improving activities?

Or maybe quite a few poor families live in dog rough areas and they dont want to let their kids out after dark? There are no decent organised activities or if they are they are too expensive for the families to participate?

There are lazy, bad parents who are middle class and lazy, bad parents who are working class. Some parents dont want to spend time with their kids so they shove them in a room with a tv. Most do not. I think those families are probably pretty evenly spread. But the more affluent parents I know would rather die than admit their kids have a barbie princess dvd combo in their bedroom.

Personally I think tvs are fine in moderation. IF any of my kids have turned them on when without asking their tvs have been removed. This does the trick.

a PP mentioned that you wouldnt know if even a well behaved, trusted child watched a bit of sneaky late night telly. Well I dont know about the rest of you but my house doesnt have seperate wings AND I go to bed after my children. So I do know if they have switched their tvs on .

What I do find a bit odd is that I have friends who will allow their toddlers to watch charity shop videos of 90's kids shows but will not let them watch live tv. Presumably if their children were toddlers during the early 90's (as were my kids) this would have been unnacceptable? Kids tv is much better now IMO. More diverse, more educational and seems better researched to appeal to kids. I am talking about preschool stuff not pseudo surreal, kidadult crap cartoons of course

IotasCat · 30/06/2009 19:43

You are half right there 100 times . The tv in our guest rm is a cast off from the living room (my dh is a sucker for the latest technology )

foxinsocks · 30/06/2009 19:44

I tell you what, I added about 10 years on my life when I put a TV in dd's room so they could play the Wii in there rather than downstairs.

It's also not connected to anything so all they can do is play the Wii on it (and we only have one TV that is actually connected to an aerial for some reason but tbh, given the teeny size of our house, any more tvs would look obscene).

foxinsocks · 30/06/2009 19:45

took 10 years off not added them on!

ahundredtimes · 30/06/2009 19:46

Who? Me? No, I don't think that.

Mine watch loads of television. We all like television.

I'm just interested in why everyone has so many sets.

TheProfiteroleThief · 30/06/2009 19:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chegirl · 30/06/2009 19:51

When I write 'you' I am being lazy. I was making a sweeping statement, aimed at anyone who didnt agree with me

ahundredtimes · 30/06/2009 19:53

Yes, and also as you Profiterole and FIS have pointed out - as others have - they're used for lots more than just watching telly. There's the digital radio, to be a screen for games etc and for dvds too.

I can completely imagine putting one upstairs when they're teenagers. For different TV watching, and also for games etc.

Though we'll probably all be watching TV on our computers by then.

foxinsocks · 30/06/2009 19:54

also lots of games are played on telly (wii playstation etc.) so it's not only used for watching tv as much as it used to be

ahundredtimes · 30/06/2009 19:54

Well, this thread has been an education.

barnsleybelle · 30/06/2009 19:55

hundred
Ds has one in his room so that if he wants to watch something that may scare dd, like walking with dinosaurs he can do so.
We have one in the living room so that we can watch tv once the children have retired.
We have one in the playroom which has no ariel but is for the wii.
We have one in our bedroom so we can watch porn in bed.

That's 4 by my count.... all of which are watched in moderation, although dh would like more of the last one .

barnsleybelle · 30/06/2009 19:56

X posts with profiterol

ahundredtimes · 30/06/2009 19:58

Really? Nobody can say - hey dd, don't go in there, he's watching a programme that might scare you? Come in the kitchen.

I'm still quite struck by the argument that everyone needs one of their own to meet their own individual desires. I do think it's a bit excessive. I also think I might be living in the stone age though.

posieparker · 30/06/2009 20:09

BB... How old are your children? You say they have retired
chegirl, It wasn't me who said about sneaky TV.

foxinsocks · 30/06/2009 20:10

lol at all you bedroom porn watchers

I'm not sure I'll look at another bedroom tv set the same again. And there was I thinking people had them there to watch the early morning news .

posieparker · 30/06/2009 20:11

I had a TV commodore 64 monitor in my room at fifteen years. You can ask me anything about Prisoner cell block H, which I watch on my black and white portable with a dial tuner and earpiece (not even headphones).

posieparker · 30/06/2009 20:12

watched, not watch

chegirl · 30/06/2009 20:13

I dont know who it was PP I am far to lazy to read back. OH! I see no, pp stand for previous poster

posieparker · 30/06/2009 20:13

Ah

HerBeatitudeLittleBella · 30/06/2009 20:14

I think it's because they're given them too ahundredtimes. My DS (10) has one in his room, solely because a friend was chucking his one out and foisted kindly gave us his new one. He doesn?t watch it v. much but I?m conscious that as he gets older, this bloody thing could present a problem. He mostly uses it for his playstation ? another ?ungratefully-- received gift from someone outside the immediate family.

Posie has got a roasting on this thread for quoting extremely well-known facts about the links between TV's in bedrooms, insomnia, obesity, class etc. None of what she is saying is particularly revelatory, there have been thousands and thousands of studies on TV watching. It?s probably the most researched medium in the history of the world. A few studies which contradict each other, the jury?s out. Masses of studies which come back with the same results over and over again, and it probably isn?t a conspiracy to make us feel bad about having TV in our bedrooms, there?s probably something in it. There is nothing wrong with TV's being dotted around the house (except aesthetically, obv) as long as you use it with discrimination; but many people who have a TV in every room, do not use the TV with discrimination and that is not the same as saying that everyone who has 5 TV's are moronic couch potatoes. Saying that there are links between things, isn't the same as saying "your child is fat and you are a bad parent because he has a TV in his room?, but some of you act as if pointing out very well known research is a personal attack. It isn?t.

barnsleybelle · 30/06/2009 20:14

hundred.... DD is not able to safely go upstairs yet, she's 22 months and runs around downstairs like a wild woman. What's wrong with ds wanting some peace to himself in his room if he wants it. FWIW DS is never sent to his room to watch his tv, but if there is something he really wants to see then if it's not appropriate for dd he happily scoots off.
posie... Ds is 7, Dd is 22 months... I was being pedantic when i said retired

Hulababy · 30/06/2009 20:22

There are lots of things people have that they don't actually need. let's face it no one actually needs a TV at all.

7y DD doesn't have a TV in her room and I don't intend getting her one. She gets to watch enough TV on the TV downstairs. We d have a portable TV in our room linked tot he downstairs Sky but it is very rarely watched. Not sure I can remember last time it was. DD does have a CD Player/Radio/iPod docking station in her room which is used a lot. She also can take her laptop up there although I do monitor internet use and she needs to ask me for a password to go online.

I have no problems about what other people chose to do regards RV and their children though. Up to them.

Hulababy · 30/06/2009 20:24

Oh and even though we have TVs in our house, and other electronic devices - we are all very well adjusted sociable creatures thank you We talk lots, share family meals, do lots of other activities, etc. We are just capable of doing all that and watching a bit of TV as well!

AandK · 30/06/2009 20:46

My son has had his tv since being 5 (he's now 7). It never goes on during the week at all and it only goes on at weekend for ps2 or to watch a dvd before bed. As I am single parent this gives me some peace time to myself. I thiunk if its well controlled a tv can't do any harm (smile)

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