TV in kids bedroom - pros or cons

So our twins are on 6-years old, but they see my nephew and his step-siblings with TV's in their bedrooms along with Playstation's.  So of course my mom tells us in front of them that we should get them TV's this summer.  Her argument is that my sister and I had them when we were young, but she forgets that we were about 13-years old not 6. 
 
We have a TV in the living room, one small one in the kitchen to see the news while cooking, and one in our bedroom if we are ever sick in bed so that one rarely gets watched.  We think giving them each their own TV's would encourage mindless watching whereas they now play Legos, dolls, Imaginext, etc. to use their imagination for entertainment.  We turn the TV off almost all day now that it is summer, do chores, projects, crafts, games, etc. so I feel it is not needed at this time.
 
Unfortunately, my mom has voiced her opinion at least 3-times now making me feel like I am some how being a bad parent.  So I am wondering if your kids have TV's in their bedrooms?  When did they get them and do you limit watching time?

 

My girls do not have TVs in their bedrooms, and they will not until they are at least 16 and buy the TV themselves.  That was the rule for me having a TV in my room, and DH never had a TV in his room.  I just do not see the need, they can read in their room if they want to do something (besides sleep/play) in it.

 

Mine are 9 and don't have a TV in their room (at my house, anyway).  My husband and I have discussed putting one in their room simply because I don't want to watch the same movies over and over or watch/listen to them play video games.  We're moving in a couple weeks and the new house has a formal living room and a den, so I think we'll just get another TV for the other living space.   I have the same objection to them having a TV in their room as you, but there are pluses to the idea also.  

 

I don't know that I would judge someone for having a TV in their kids' room, but it's definitely not necessary or IMO a good thing. We really only have one TV that we watch. It's in our basement family room, so we are never mindlessly watching TV. Technically, we have two more--one mounted in front of the treadmill that my husband watches while he runs and one in our room in a closed armoire that we watch maybe twice a year. Usually when we are doing a big clean and want to entertain the kids where we can keep an eye on them. The twins do have iPod touches, but they have to ask permission and do chores first. And they are never allowed to have them in their room. All they do in their room is sleep and read books.

Personally, I really can't even imagine getting my kids a TV for their room. Like I said, I'm not judging anyone who does. My kids do have iPods, and I'm sure a lot of people think they are unnecessary. But I just can't imagine someone judging you for not having a TV in their room. There is no need. Why take all the positive, creative play and replace it with TV?

 

No tv's here either.  My son has discovered the joys of listening to sports games on a.m. radio.  We don't have cable and only get a few stations.  We do have Netflix.  But the tv is off most of the time.  Dh and I do have one in our room that we watch news on while we get ready and in the evenings.  
 
Something that I noticed last week made me more convinced that we don't need unsupervised tv's.  We were at my dh's grandpa's lake cabin.  He has a tv in the front room (where he was watching a gory crime show with lots of shooting and bodies) and there was a tv in the back room where the twins were sleeping.  Since it was the evening and everyone was winding down (and the lake house where there are minimal toys and books) I turned on America's Got Talent for the kids. I went back to the front room since I also was cleaning.  I think Timothy picked up every inappropriate comment, joke and innuendo that was on that show.  And then kept repeating them for 3 days.  That convinced me right there that we don't need tv's in rooms. 
 
And, yes, my kids have asked. But it's not happening.  It would interfere with Lego, basketball, reading, drawing time.
 
Marissa

 

My kids do not and probably never will. We have 2 TVs, one in living room that gets used daily and one in basement that gets watched more in the winter bc out playroom is down there. No cable, only netflix and amazon prime (plus local channels). We don't have one in our bedroom bc I would have a hard time turning it off and that's the exact reason my kids won't. I don't think there is a right or wrong reason but I certainly wouldn't base it off of peer pressure essentially

 

No tv's here. I hate the tv for obvious reasons(they watch way too much), and there is no way in heck they will get one in their rooms. I didn't have one...dh did.

When I did get one, it was a small black and white, and I watched the news in the am while getting ready for school. No leisure watching.

 

Our kids are only 4, but no way are they going to have a TV in their room.  They don't need free access to all the inappropriate things on the dish, AND it encourages poor sleep habits (watching at night, or turning it on during the night).  And of course it enourages them to overwatch during the day, too.  People can make their own decisions for their families, but it's a big NO for our family.

 

Our kids don't even have toys in their room so tvs are right out. Seriously, I think the interference with falling asleep and staying asleep when watching tv too close to bedtime let alone while you're falling asleep is reason enough to avoid it. Plus, for the most part tv watching is a family activity that we do together so putting tvs in their room would undermine that. Generally bedrooms are for sleeping and quiet time/reading. That's pretty much it. That goes for Justin and I too.

 

This is us exactly.

 

We are a mostly TV-less family: we have a really old TV stored in the basement and DH has to get it out and set it up if we want to watch something, so TV is a choice, involves effort and is a family activity on the rare occasions when it happens, for example we watched Germany play in the Soccer World Cup together twice.
 
But even if we watched more TV we would not want a TV in the kids' room. Their room is for sleep and a calm place, so far they only have books and stuffed animals and dolls for quiet play in their room. I also think that kids need a lot of help learning to be responsible with media, filtering the language and pictures etc., so for an elementary school child TV should be a family activity.

 

We are a one tv family so no my girls (who are 7) will not have a tv in their room. Before my girls were born dh and I would have the tv on when we were home in the background. But after having twinfants I started to hate having that extra noise, so we stopping turning it on. We got rid of the tv in our bedroom because we never watched it and just kept the one in the den. And now 7 years later, we only watch when we have something that we want to watch and turn it off when we are done.

 

This is us.  My husband and I do not have a TV in our bedroom.  I have enough sleeping problems as it is without a TV making it worse and I feel the same for the kids.  I did not have a TV in my bedroom growing up.  My parents house had three TV's, one in the living room and one in the downstairs bedroom off from the kitchen and in my parents room that they watched as they got ready in the morning.  I feel like if the kids had TV's in their rooms, it would interfere with sleep and they have enough stuff in their rooms to keep them occupied without.
To be honest, if you are not feeling the TV in the room vibe, I'd tell Mom to please use the money for something the kids will play with and explain how you feel about it.  I'd be upset with my Mom if she bought TV's for my kids' room or something else that my husband and I were not feeling they should have at the moment.

 

My boys are 12, and do not have a tv in their room.  They have 2 in the basement--one good one, and this summer they went garage sale-ing, and found a free tv to go with the $1 playstation--they used their own money, but it still goes in the basement.  When they say so-and-so has a tv in their room, I respond with different houses, different rules.

 

I am a TV watcher and have one in my room. Growing up, I had one but it wasn't connected to cable and I was about 13 when I got it.
 
My kids will not have a TV in their rooms for a long time- like until teens or later. It's really not good to watch at night before bed (or fall asleep to, like I do!  :unsure: ) and I don't want them to start bad habits. 
 
Why not tell your mom privately that you've discussed it and made a decision that TVs won't be in the kid's bedrooms with a gentle ask that she stop bringing it up in front of the kids? 

 

I agree with Michelle. I would have a talk with your Mom and ask her to stop. Why is it so important to her that your children have a TV in their rooms? Sometimes, when we parent differently from our parents, it makes them feel that we are making a (negative) statement on how they parented us. I wonder if it is bothering her that you have made a different parenting choice than she did? (also, there is a difference between allowing it at 6 and allowing it at 13)
 
My children do not have TVs in their rooms, and will not even as teens. We have two TVs they can watch, one in the great room and one in the bonus room. Only one has a DVD player, so they watch that the most as they primarily watch DVDs. They both have a DVR. They almost never watch TV live. I don't see the need for a TV in their rooms. No child has ever suffered from not watching enough TV. :winking:  DH & I have an old TV still in our bedroom. We have hardly used it for years. I mainly used it to watch the news when getting ready for work in the pre-kid era and while nursing DD1 right before putting her to bed. So, it's been a decoration for much of the last 9 years. lol Maybe we should get rid of it.

 

No tv's in kids' bedrooms here either. I just don't think it is necessary at all.

We have two tv's - one in the family room and we have one in our room - and I have to say it is nice at the end of the evening, once kids are in bed, to get in bed with DH and watch a show or two.

 

Thank you so much ladies for giving me the opinion on the side that we were tending to take.  Right now if they want to watch something on Nickelodeon or Disney we let them watch the kitchen TV, but to them it is a "small TV" :blink:   I forgot they do have Samsung tablets for a few free games, books, and drawing apps, but those are supervised and timed or else they would be in tablet comas for hours.  That was my concern, but as mentioned my mom gets that irritations of "well that is how you & your sister were raised & you guys turned out fine" so I do think it is in some way her concern that we are questioning her parenting skills even though that was 40+ years ago and things have drastically changed.  Don't get me started on the drama with her over homework they had last year in kindergarten :catfight:
 
I think I will have a talk with her privately.  I know on the rare occasion that they spend the night at her house she puts them in her spare room and lets them fall asleep with the TV since they were afraid of the different surroundings several years ago when they began spending the night there 2 or 3 nights per year.  Now it just allows them to lay in bed staring at the TV until 11pm and we get super crabby kids returned to us the next day since they are off schedule.  She does not get the sleep schedule that we stick to, but adjust in the summer either.  I guess when it comes down to it she does question the way we parent, but it has come from the results of the way the twins react/behave to not having a routine environment.  Non-routine typically means crabby/mean kids and irritated parents that are counting the minutes until bedtime when in reality these should be the fun years making memories IMO.

 

We actually have a small TV in Jason's room that was a gift from DH's grandmother. It has a DVD player built in and they've occasionally watched a movie in his room. That said, it's been at least 6 months since it's been used. It's not connected to anything so all they can do it watch a movie. (And she went completely behind our backs and gave it to them. We had no idea until they were opening it up at their birthday party a few years ago. That's a whole 'nother story.)
 
I was against the idea completely and still am. I'm not a fan of having TVs in the bedroom period. But we didn't want to completely get rid of it in case we have an extra living space at some point. (Plus, DH didn't want to create a huge issue and drama over a TV.) So now it's just existing in his room until we have an extra space to put it. 
 
The only other TV we have is in the living room. We do watch TV as a family regularly. 

 

My kids (6 and 9) have a TV in their room and only watch it for about 30 minutes before going to bed-we read a book after baths and then they watch a show and next thing you know they are asleep-its not a big deal to us one way or the other.  They could take it or leave it. 
There is certainly no need for one in anyone's bedroom.  We have one and I only watch it if I'm sick and have to stay in bed or we turn on the news in the morning while we are getting ready. 
As a whole none of us really watch very much TV.

 

We don't even own a TV anymore.  When school is in session, the girls are only allowed screen time on the weekends which is limited.  DH was only watching football and I only watched a couple of shows a week for almost $1000 worth of cable per year so I cancelled it about a year and a half ago.  Since then the girls get what they want from station websites and Youtube, DH gets NFL Rewind for $20/year, and I watch my shows from websites and free Hulu.  
 
The girls' bedroom is for sleeping, reading, and occasionally watching something on the tablet with doors wide open.  I had a TV in my room when I was about 8.  Back then, there were only two stations.  One was like Public Television with only two kids shows in the morning on weekdays and boring adult news and political shows the rest of the day and nothing for kids on weekends.  The other had kids shows from around 3:00 - 6:00pm (when the news came on) on weekdays and maybe an afternoon movie and wildlife documentaries on the weekend.  Both stations had large chunks of off-air time from mid-morning until early afternoon, and both stopped broadcasting around 11:00pm. TV watching was naturally limited by the lack of programming.  Its a different world now.

 

None of my three kids have a TV in their rooms....my kids are almost 14 (in Oct) and 8 and 8.  My oldest does ask from time to time since most of her friends have a TV in their room and I have no idea when we will let her get one in her room.  But, I know my 8 year olds will not have one in their rooms for quite awhile.

 

my two don't and won't...we have a TV in the living room and family room and they watch those (too regularly LOL), and I do have a TV in my room but I put that on during the day when I can't sleep to drown out environmental noise (being that I sleep during the day since I work nights).
 
I never had a TV in my room - I don't see the need

 

DH grew up with a tv/vcr in his room.  We will NOT be adding that to the kids' room.  Up until after the twins were born, we were a 1 TV household.  Now, admittedly it is nice to have a second tv upstairs in the living room.  We totally supervise the kids on any devices and tv.  DH's world revolves around the tv.  I hope the kids realize there is something other than that. 
 
I refuse to have a TV in our bedroom as well.

 

We have a larger TV downstairs in our family room and a little bitty one in the kitchen. None of us will have a TV in our bedrooms. The boys don't even have toys in their room as they need no other distractions (besides each other!) at bed time.
 
When the kids all started school and their social circle expanded, they discovered that many of their classmates had TV's in their rooms. We were hammered with requests for a bit, but it's been quite a while since any of them have mentioned it. I just tell them it's a choice their dad and I have made and it's the way it will be in our family.
 
With that said, one of the things I love about staying the night in a hotel is being able to watch TV in bed.
 
I hope you're able to have a conversation with your mom and she will respect your parenting decision!

 

My 7 year old has one. She watches it about twice a month before bed, as a treat.

 

No TVs in bedrooms. I have a lifetime of unhealthy sleep habits and insomnia; I want the littles to have much better sleep habits than I do! I would also ask your mom why it's so important to her and try and have a conversation about it.

 

My kids do not have TVs in their rooms.  They have asked, but I don't think it's necessary.  We have two TVs in the living area in our house and one in our bedroom.  I never had one in my room growing up (until I could buy my own). 

 

My girls have tv's in their room.  My FIL bought them tv with dvd players for them one year that we were at loss at what to tell him to get the girls.  I';m thinking they were 4 or 5 when they got the tvs.  It never used to be hooked up to anything other than the dvd player that is internal, but when we switched from cable to fios, it didn't cost extra to wire their rooms, so they have fios.  They have the free standard box.  We have parental controls on it so they can't watch it after 8:30.   But they really don't watch it that much.  

 

When we dropped cable over a year ago, we took the tv out of our room and put it in Jack's room.  The only thing it's good for is playing the Wii.  Your mom should respect the fact that you don't want tv's in their bedrooms.

 

I don't think that it is some problem. I'm thinking what TV better to buy?

 

Hi! I agree with you. Nowadays electronics is everywhere and I don't think that it is a problem. Talking about TV set, there are so many different models, try to search something modern. For example Samsung UN58MU6070FXZA is quite good variant as for me.

 

The debate about whether or not to put a TV in a kid's bedroom is definitely a tricky one. On one hand, it can be a great way to give them a little entertainment or educational content in their own space. But on the other hand, it’s easy for screen time to get out of hand if it’s not monitored. Something I’ve noticed is that having solid internet at home really helps manage these situations, whether it's streaming educational shows or setting up parental controls. I’ve been using metronet, and having a reliable connection has made a huge difference for streaming and managing devices for the whole family.