TV in bedroom - age 12

[gracerowansmum]

I want to get my daughter a TV for her room for 12th birthday. Ex doesn't agree its a good plan, we have a good relationship and I dont want to fall out with him about it. Would like some help deciding what is the right thing to do, I trust her not to be up there all day and late into the night watching it, she works hard at school and does loads of sport, we are an active sociable family. Can you tell me your experiences with TV's in bedrooms at this age? Thank you :-)

TV really doesn't offer her anything. If you can't be bothered spending the time with her then buy her a whole bunch of books or sign her up for some kind of sport or buy sone art supplies instead

What are you talking about? We don't have to spend every single minute with our kids. Do you seriously hang over your kids every minute they're at home? At 12 it's important to have some breathing space...they don't need their parents taking up every spare minute they have....it's only a bit of tv for goodness sake, lighten up.

Oh gosh, seems like buying your dc a tv for the bedroom means you don’t want to spend every waking moment with your child. I’m such a bad mother!
Get a grip, honestly. Can’t you trust your DC not to watch innapropriate things or watch it in moderation, maybe you should be questioning yourself why this is.

It does change the family dynamic. DS got one for his 16th and I’ve barely seen him since. Meal times have become more important. I do a lot more shouting up the stairs.

I won’t let them have TVs/gadgets in their room before 16. They plug everything downstairs overnight. They need to sleep and I don’t need to be having the battles.

Can't be bothered to spend time with them?
That's not it at all.everyone needs 'downtime',be that mn'ing, x Boxing,playing on phone etc.

How come you've got time to MN then?

oblomov probably because eggs doesn't have any tvs in her house.

A child psychiatrist in Ireland said that a tv in a child's bedroom was a form of child abuse.
I wouldn't and don't allow tv in Dcs rooms.

Do you have a link to read about that child psychiatrist eloise? Quite a strong statement and I can't seem to find it via Google. Thanks

Unfortunately not. I think I read it in an Irish newspaper.

I tend to base most of my parenting decisions on things that I once read in a newspaper

I had a tv in my room when I was 10. My mum said they rarely saw me after that as I started to prefer being in my room rather than downstairs with them. (That May be because I didn't want to sit and watch bloody casualty and the antiques roadshow with them mind).

Even the bed company dreams don’t advocate TV’s in children’s bedrooms as it affects a child’s sleep

www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/should-childrens-bedrooms-be-no-tv-zone/

Also TV’s a a child’s bedroom has been linked to childhood obesity

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/02/tvs-in-the-bedroom-linked-to-childhood-obesity-study-finds

Well I must be a terrible mother, my two DS' have had a tv in their room since they were around 3? They also have a sky box, PS4 Xbox etc. They wouldn't dream of watching inappropriate content because I raised them to be respectful of my house rules. Neither is obese and both love going out for bike rides etc. We spend quality time together watching a film, playing board games, cooking, talking but it does mean that we all get some space and there's no arguments over what we watch if someone wants something different. I say go ahead and get her one.

NerrSnerr

Also TV’s a a child’s bedroom has been linked to childhood obesity

Interestingly the child in my house who has had a TV in their room for a long time is actually borderline underweight and the one who doesn't have a TV is on the chunky side, admittedly not obese though.

If your child has a TV in their room and is allowed unrestricted access, no parental controls or supervision, isn't made to do homework, play or exercise and ultimately becomes obese or a gobshite then it certainly isn't the TV that I would be blaming.