My 4-year-old broke 4 TVs in one month... What should I do?

[LunaDream0]

Hi all,

I'm feeling a bit frustrated and overwhelmed at the moment, and I hope someone can offer some advice or support. My 4-year-old son has somehow managed to break four TVs in the last month! I’m not even sure how it’s happening, but each time I turn around, there’s a new screen crack or malfunction. It’s honestly starting to feel like we’re living in a nightmare!

I know kids can be rough on things, but I’ve never had this happen before, and it’s really making me question if I need to be doing something differently. Should I be more proactive in teaching him how to treat electronics? Or maybe I need to find a way to limit his access to the TV altogether?

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? How do you handle a situation like this without completely losing your mind?

Any tips or reassuring words would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I think it could well be AI as well. The Hi All and Thanks in advance greeting and sign off are very characteristic and there's exclamation marks after a lot of the sentences in an otherwise perfectly punctuated OP. That and the lack of reaction to any of the replies is unusual for a human. It's possibly a person writing but it raises some flags is all.

She's really not, given she thinks her son no longer has ADHD, she's just judging others.
Perhaps her son never had it at all and just needed better parenting?

@carrotsandcheese

Anyway, these threads are so tedious. Is OP actually going to give us more details as requested? I can't believe there are many people stupid rich enough to replace a TV 4 times in one month.

Interesting, isn't it. Almost as if she has suddenly realised that by admitting the child did it 4 times, well then she allowed them to do it again and again and was clearly not parenting at the time.

I suspect that since posters have come out with “ridiculous “ solutions like monitoring the child or removing the tv from their reach, the OP may not return?

Well of course it isn't a barrier, I know plenty of people with ADHD who are doing very well, but you can't grow out of it!

But what is he actually doing to them?
I've managed 12 years of parenthood with zero smashed tvs

It's getting really tiresome reading statements like this all the time, the child has ADHD or other then they should be supervised more. This has happened because the child is not being supervised properly.

Have you explained to him why this isn't OK?

It's fine supervising him/putting the TV on the wall/hiding the remote etc but he'll be at school soon and needs to learn that breaking expensive things has consequences.

4 TV's in a month isn't an accident.

The op has given basically no details of anything apart from the TVs getting broken . No diagnosed conditions .
No extra detail in her reply apart from the tv is in the living toom

I understand that but was allowing for the fact that her child may have needs which means they don't understand as well and she needs different advice

Oh God, is OP going to threaten to do us in like the bloke from Corrie? Or was that their other thread? There’s been a few 😂🤣😆

My 3 year old broke our TV a few months ago... (infuriatingly, he was bashing it with a toy hammer because it had automatically turned off after a program had ended "it isn't working Mummy"... well no, not anymore)!

We'd told our boys to treat the TV with more respect before, so the natural consequences of not having any TV for a few days while we sourced and ordered a new one felt fair. We then ordered a wall bracket to keep the TV out of reach (which we haven't actually put up yet... 😬🤣)!

Don't get another TV.

I suspect it's simply that children are not "one size fits all"... my 6 year old would never have even thought about bashing a TV with a toy hammer. My 3 year old is different, prone to tantrums and being destructive. Same parenting, totally different personalities... strategies that work for one, just don't work for the other (hilariously, I'd been lulled into false security and thought I was acing the parenting game... then realised I'd just been lucky with my first child and needed to learn some new strategies 🤣)

More info needed. Noone can really give any useful advice without first understanding if he’s doing it on purpose or if it’s a tv on a low stand that’s being accidentally crashed into during clumsy/boisterous play as there is a difference.

Several things contributing here:
4yo is still a silly age and he won't have much impulse control
Modern TVs are ridiculously fragile and easy to damage
The TV is in his reach/play area

Suggestion: buy a sheet of clear acrylic or a purpose made TV protector from Ebay if you can't change any of the other factors. like this

Obviously also teach him to respect things and be careful around electronics, but you may get through a few more TVs before he gets it reliably.

My autistic brother had a smashing obsession - get some wood and perspex and build the TV a box.

Also, natural consequences: the TV is broken so he can't watch it for a while, that will be the most relatable for him. Or let him see the damaged screen and explain why.
Is the TV literally broken/cracked or just some damaged pixels?

So after the second one was broken he was able to break two more?

Any chance the first time he broke the tv liked the attention it brought him?

Can you have a TV anywhere else? Any room that remains adults only?

I’ve found a durable kids tablet with strict parental controls quite good for kids to watch TV - the Amazon ones have a younger child setting for pre readers too.

No. Because the "Santa won't come" isn't a threat that you are likely to follow through with, is it?

What happens if your child doesn't behave? Are you REALLY going to give no presents that year?

Also, it doesn't teach them to inherently do the right thing, just a fear based temporary behaviour modification. Because what happens after Christmas day? What is their incentive to behave, if they fundamentally were only behaving because of the Santa threat instead of the understanding of natural consequence and the desire to be a part of a decent society ... ?

How is he breaking them? Accidentally with a ball etc or deliberately?
Either way he is obviously not ready to be left alone in the living room for long enough to break a TV.
If it's accidental then limit what toys he can have in the living room.
If it's deliberate I would not be replacing the TV for a while "until you're bigger and have learnt not to break TVs" you can watch stuff on a tablet or laptop but don't let him watch any.

It's not the way to discipline a 4 year old who may turn out to have SEND. Christmas is a long time away for them and consequences need to be immediate. All that will happen with your suggestion is that the whole family will forever remember one really horrible Christmas .

The OP needs to supervise him more and stop it happening.

Why aren't you answering how he broke 4 TVs?
Lots of people have asked and you've ignored them all.

You need to find a way to protect the TV, such as mounting on the wall out of his reach, or not allowing him into the room with the TV unsupervised.