Child on playdate has just told dd...

[eemie]

that she has a tv in her room and is allowed to watch it till 10pm (they're 8)

that bedtime stories are babyish

and that for her packed lunch she has a sandwich, a packet of crisps, two chocolate biscuits and a scotch egg

dd has to stop watching tv at the close of CBBC (7pm) goes to bed at 7.30, has stories till 8 or so, and has no tv or music in her room. She'd love to have packed lunches but I've always said that, until she eats more fruit and veg, she has to have a cooked meal. Also that when she does have packed lunches they'll be healthy.

Am I trapped in the 1950s?

But the internet per se is not evil, some people are and they misuse the technology. 'Evil' people have always existed! Surely our lives have been enriched by technology (and I include tv in that - there is plenty of sh** on, but of course the converse is also true.)

Sorry, should have been clearer - of course technology is not evil. Evil exists throughout all ages of man, just that the methods change to reflect the available tools. To make my point clearer, telly and computer games offer some wonderful things but they, like anything, can be open to abuse, misuse or overuse. And at the ages of 5, 6, 7, 8 etc. children need guidance and limitations placed on their use of these technologies. But then everyone seems to agree on that subject don't they? We just have different methods of going about it and slightly different opinions about how much is healthy.

Definitely more things to worry about when you have teenagers than should they have a TV in their room.I wish my teenage daughter (17 yrs) was bloody well IN her room watching TV than out until 1am doing God knows what.