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Original poster

How old before TV in bedroom?

262 replies

Mummywalsh · 25/04/2011 17:38

My 2.5yo DD1 and 19mo DD2 share a bedroom and MIL has just given us a portable TV with DVD player. I've always been against the girls playing in their rooms and believe they go there to sleep, but now I'm thinking would it be such a bad thing for a quiet DVD in the afternoon, definitely not before bed or otherwise. How old were your LOs before they had a TV in their room?

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BabyDubsEverywhere · 26/04/2011 19:49

When they ask for one i think, cant really see a reason why not,

They are children not idiots, Im sure they will be able to watch tv and function in society....is it really that big a deal?

I cant remember not having a tv in every room of the house growing up and we are all normal-ish adults

moodymama · 26/04/2011 19:51

Never. I had a tv in my bedroom as a teen and will never do it again, nor for my child. It was disastrous in terms of my sleep and my relationship with my family.
DD is occasionally allowed to watch the portable dvd player upstairs but quite rarely really.

sunshine75 · 26/04/2011 19:55

Is it just me or are there some very smug people on this thread. Smug as in 'I'm a much better parent because I don't let my child have a tv in their room'.

It's not an issue for me yet as dd is only 3 but I'm sure I'll let her have one at some point in the future. I had a tv in my room from about 11 but to be honest usually watched tv with my parents. They also encouraged me to read, do sport, study etc. The tv only went on if my dad was watching something dreadful and boring downstairs and my mum and I would watch Coronation St or Dallas (showing my age) together upstairs. Or as I got older and my friends came round then we might watch something horribly teenage that my parents could not abide to watch with us. My parents gave me a lot of freedom but explained that with it went responsibility and if I didn't act in a responsible way then the freedom would be taken away - 25 years on this now seems to make enormous sense.

Do people on MN live in such enormous houses that they wouldn't hear if their children had tv on in the middle of the night? Surely, if the children abuse the rules and watch it too much then it gets taken away - yes? I may be naive but surely you trust your children to not watch too much and only when they abuse the trust do you take away the privilege?

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AnnieLobePassoverSeder · 26/04/2011 19:56

Never. Simple as that.

Keep the TV in your room for quiet afternoon DVDs if necessary.

HooverTheHamaBeads · 26/04/2011 19:59

Never.

No PC's in their room either.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 26/04/2011 20:05

I have only skimmed but am surprised that some if you are saying that bedrooms are for sleeping only. Do you really expect your 14 or 15 year old to only go upstairs to their room when they want to go to bed? I find that totally unrealistic and the polar opposite of all the other threads recently that tell all how important it is for your teen to have some space. Sitting in the living room with your parents watching the Antiques Roadshow is hardly that.

And the poster who turns the wifi off at 11pm, you know both your kids are using their phones to get on the internet, right?

helenthemadex · 26/04/2011 20:05

we have three televisions in the house, one downstairs with the freeview box , one in my room and one in my girls room but I can only get tv signal downstairs, so the ones in the bedroom are solely for watching dvd's which is easily controlled and limited to saturdays

I would not allow them to have a computer in their bedroom until 16+ potentially more inappropriate stuff on their for them to see online

StarMammy · 26/04/2011 20:10

My 3 year old has one and NEVER uses it... no idea why lol! I think she likes kicking me off my PS3 to watch her films there! Shes a smart kid, we have a 42" in the lounge... lol!

StarMammy · 26/04/2011 20:11

Oh, also, I got my first TV in my room when I was 6 years old and it didn't do me an ounce of harm, except I am a massive TV fan, but then again the same was true for my younger sister and she doesn't really watch TV at all these days...

MarianneM · 26/04/2011 20:12

And the poster who turns the wifi off at 11pm, you know both your kids are using their phones to get on the internet, right?

If you have bought your children those types of phones... So a child of today is not content without their own personal iphone (or whatever they are), laptop, TV in bedroom, xbox and so on and so forth. Weird, weird, weird.

Franup · 26/04/2011 20:12

We have one family TV, a pc downstairs and a laptop in our bedroom. I am fine with them getting a TV in their bedrooms once they start secondary school. I think teenagers need their own space and to discover their own identity, they don't always want to be watching stuff with their parents or getting permission to watch things. I had a TV in my room (don't as an adult) from 12. Managed to get a degree and a doctorate...

I also think they will all have a pc/laptop at some stage. At one point I will have 3 children in secondary school, one pc won't be realistic at that point, they will need it for school work, interests and hobbies (lots of fears of computers taking over the world for a thread on one of the busiest parenting forums on the net!). I also think computers will be even more embedded in how we live than they are now: I can't imagine ever reading a book electronically and I still prefer to print stuff that needs editing off into a hardcopy, but I think my kids will just do that all on screen.

usualsuspect · 26/04/2011 20:14

Actually I think its weirder to expect teenagers to be with their parents all the time

MarianneM · 26/04/2011 20:17

So the only thing they can think of doing in their bedrooms is to watch TV/DVDs ?

Besides, my DDs won't be coming to us for TV as we don't have one at all and never will.

usualsuspect · 26/04/2011 20:21

My ds has his mates round,listens to music,plays his guitar,reads ,watches the football all in his room

big smug points to you and your no TV household

Asinine · 26/04/2011 20:21

Never. I would never have a TV in any room except for the living room.

What if dh decided the tv in the bedroom was more interesting than me?

transferbalance · 26/04/2011 20:29

I had a telly in my room as a teen and ALWAYS watched it late at night with headphones on

was great

COCKadoodledooo · 26/04/2011 20:30

I don't have a tv in my bedroom now, so the dcs don't see that as the norm. Plus there's nowhere to put one in their room anyway.

I got a tv in my room when I went to uni and bought it myself, so I expect similar for my children I guess.

MoChan · 26/04/2011 20:41

I don't think I'm smug. I just don't really see TV as an essential component of my life, or my daughter's. She likes watching a bit of DVD/TV, and I let her watch a certain amount, but she gets bored quickly. I hardly ever switch it on though, only ever watch really it if she, or my step-children, or partner put it on (not terribly often). I do like films, and occasionally make an effort to watch something someone's recommended to me, but rarely follow TV programmes with any regularity. That's just how my life is. Does it necessarily have to mean I'm smug?

SparklyCloud · 26/04/2011 20:59

Mine have tvs in their bedrooms...so do I!
All their mates do too...obv their mums are not MNetters!

thefirstMrsDeVere · 26/04/2011 21:04

I have a telly in every room apart from the bathrooms. I even have one in my shed.

I would have one in the bathroom if I could.

Just to be clear (because there seems to be some confusion), you dont have to turn them on. A tv will work even if its been off for days and days!

The tvs in my children's rooms do not interfere with their sleep because they dont watch tv past 6pm. They go to bed at 7.30 so have an hour and a half to wind down.

I was recently at a sleep seminar and the experts their clarified that the tv had to be ON to interfer with sleep. - Not being sarky, it was a question asked by several parents because of the constant 'no tvs in bedrooms, they stop children sleeping' message put out.

Lots of parents were confused by this and assumed that the tv was giving off some sort of energy.

We dont even watch that much tv. We just like to be able to watch it wherever we feel like it.

Nothing I like better than to spend an afternoon in my shed, sewing and watching an old movie

There IS a whole lot of smuggery and snobbery attached to television. The bigger it is the stupider you are. Having a tv for only watching wildlife programmes and the news makes you very clever.

Its all so silly.

PandaEis · 26/04/2011 21:17

my DD is 5 and she has a tv and dvd player but it rarely gets used tbh
it hasnt got an aerial attatched and she only has a small selection of DVDs (preapproved by me obv)

i see no harm in it but i had one as a child and have one in my bedroom. TBH though the only reason i have one in my room is, to begin with, pre DD, DH and i liked to watch tv in bed on a sunday morning. then while i was pregnant with DD i had insomnia for about 3 months so watched it whilst bored in bed and DH was snoring beside me it came in useful whist breastfeeding DD in the early days and it has stuck around since then

also i didnt buy DDs tv, MIL did...after i had said i didnt want her to have one until she was older

i dont mind so much now though it is good leverage if i need to discipline DD too

NotaMopsa · 26/04/2011 21:21

no never
no computer either

Elvisina · 26/04/2011 21:21

My much younger little sis admits that she used to read a book a week until she got a tv in her room aged 14 - then it became about a book every 6 months! It was always too tempting to switch on every night rather than read. She's super bright academically (sorry to show off but she is pretty cool - just graduated with a first) but I do wonder whether her results would have been affected if she'd had a tv much earlier. Perhaps it's a bit ott to suggest it would have had that much effect? I honestly don't know! As an English teacher I see the massive difference that being a competent reader can have on a student's school life and anything that discourages children from reading worries me. However, I am prepared to admit that just because I won't let my ds have a tv in his room in the future (he's only 16 months now) will not necessarily mean that he will turn to reading Dickens!

PoppetUK · 26/04/2011 21:23

Judging how grumpy my DD got after sneaking DS until 10pm the other night I think I'd say never. I do very occasionally let them have a moving night. Popcorn and a rental on the ipad in DD's room. As mine normally spend until 8pm / 830pm reading to us on a Saturday it's nice to send them up earlier and let them have a film. Like I said though this is a is very occasional treat / reward.

NotaMopsa · 26/04/2011 21:24

wow Elvisina
worth a read

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