Do Your Kids Have a TV in Their Bedrooms?

No.

I am not concerned about my kids being inactive, but disconnected, taking in inappropriate media without commentary and critical thought, unable to converse, in need of non-stop stimulation, unable to entertain themselves...

No...not only no but hell no...they watch too much as it is in the living room...when they leave home and have their own place they can have their own tv...

No. Don't plan on giving them one either.

I don't allow it because they DO NOT NEED a TV In their room. PERIOD.

They want to play XBOX or Wii? They are set up on two different TVs in the house.

I'm not worried about inactivity - my kids are plenty active. They just don't NEED a TV in their room - that's my opinion.

No.
My children are college age and we never have had TVs in bedrooms. Bedrooms are for sleeping. TV rooms are for watching TV. We never allowed phones or computers in bedrooms either.
All of those activities are done in public spaces in our home.

I haven't read any of the responses, but a resounding NO to tv's in any bedroom of our house.

Kids watch too much tv as it is. Why make it easier for them?

Yes he does. Cable, on demand, HD, flat screen.
He's had it since nap time became "quiet time."
The correlation between a tv in the bedroom and obesity is probably similar to the correlation between the existence of junk food and a tv in the bedroom.
If you allow your kid to sit and watch the tv ( or eat junk food) all day, then obesity enters the picture. It's about usage and parameters in both cases.
My son is an active, healthy 10 year old who gets to set his timer for O. hour at bedtime.
Hope this helps!

Our kids are 13,10 and 6.

We don't have t.v's in ANY bedrooms at our home. Our two tv's are in our main living spaces.

We personally don't like a lot of tv watching or video game playing so that is why we don't give the kids the freedom to endlessly veg out in front of the boob tube.

Our decision has very little to do with a couch potato/overweight stigma...but instead that there are better things to do with our limited time here on earth than endlessly entertaining ourselves.

Personally...we just try to keep the tv's off more than they are on.

I grew up in a home where everyone had their own tv and there were tv's in the main living spaces. I look back at that and we spent waaaay too much time separated in our rooms watching lots of tv. We didn't watch bad things...just alot of wasted time away from each other.

But..my mom had a quiet house and we weren't squabbling with each other :) There are times I use our tv for that same exact purpose...just veg out,be quiet and stop arguing with each other.

We don't have alot of rules on what we watch...I am pretty liberal that way except staying within the rating system. I am NOT an "only educational show" kind of mom. Just that we don't want to encourage lots of tv watching.

Just my two cents...well maybe you got a little more than that :)

TV in a room does NOT make a kid overweight. Correlation and causality are different. It may be that kids who HAVE TVs are overweight for different reasons. NOT being active and eating the wrong things combined with genetics is what makes people overweight.

Having something somewhere does NOT make you use it. That is up to the person.
TVs in the bedroom don't make you watch them instead of getting activity.

Parents who are not able to teach their kids or model limits, discipline, willpower etc contribue to obesity.
Poverty contributes to obesity
Lack of education on how to put together meal planning and budgeting contributes to obesity.
Parents who work multiple jobs and lack appropriate daycare contribues to obesity.

A friend of mine has TVs in the rooms of both her kids. They just ran (as a family) the Great Wall of China race. They do 5K races every quarter. She is a SAHM (with a high-income husband) and does a considerable amount of meal planning with access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Her kids will not be obese.
The kids (10, 12 and 14) each have flat screens and computers in their bedrooms with video game systems.

BUT their lifestyle and mindset is healthful.

Has NOTHING to do with a TV in their room.

I am obese. My mother was obese. I learned NOTHING about food planning, budgeting, nutrition. I grew up in a dysfunctional home where the focus was on keeping your head above water.... not on having a fresh vegetable.
It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I really figured out how to control my life.... and therefore how to control my choices.
I don't have a TV in my bedroom.
My daughter doens't have a TV in her bedroom.

I eat about 2,000 calories per day and walk on a tredmill 4 nights a week. We park in the farthest spot from the store. We ride bikes at the park. We go swimming.

Yet, I am obese. My daughter is 'heavy'. She watches ONE TV show per day (sometimes 30 min / sometimes 1 hour). THAT IS IT.
When we play the Wii it's exercise games.... boxing, jousting, tennis. We have no other gaming systems in our house.

We have ONE TV in our house.... but no TV "package". We hook up the computer if we want to watch something.

Yet we are obese.

Do I believe that TV contributes to obesity.

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Poor lifestyle choices (some justified, some not) contribute to obesity. Eating the wrong foods and not getting enough exercise contributes to obesity. Genetics contributes to obesity.

Personally, I think it's a bad idea. It's way too easily to isolate yourself from the family, and it's too easy for them to do and see things they shouldn't.

I've actually had to rethink the way I do lots of things, though. I didn't used to be concerned about the occasional video game, as I keep hand held devices in my room, and they have to ask to use them. Then I found out my 7 year old knows how to access Netflix from my Nook. That was a big wake-up call for me.

It's not just tv. I think it's best to really limit electronics in the bedroom.

my kids got 'em when they could afford 'em!
khairete
S.

First, no, my son does not have a television in his room and likely won't until he is an adult with his own place. We have a television in our own room and so there are two (in case of conflict when he is older) and frankly, we can all watch the same thing or someone can go keep themselves busy if they don't like what's on. :)

As for the 'stigma' regarding kids with tvs in their rooms... this isn't stigma, this is a researched fact that children who have televisions in their rooms (read: unmonitored tv time) or who watch more than 2 hours of tv a day (read: two hours or more of 'sit' time, so this could include physically-passive video games) DO have a higher chance of being overweight. Here:

"Children with a TV in their bedroom were about twice as likely to have high levels of fat mass — defined as levels in the top 25 percent — compared with those without a TV in their room.

Kids with a TV in their room were also more likely to have a large waist circumference measurement and high levels of fat in the bloodstream"

The article cited from:
http://www.livescience.com/25414-bedroom-tv-children-obes...

based on study which was featured an article from American Journal of Preventive Medicine titled "Five Year Changes in After-School Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior". I did look for the source article, however, it is not available for view without purchasing the article for $31. :( Another go-to article would be from the Harvard School of Public Health,which offers study citations in their claims that "Studies that follow children over long periods of time have consistently found that the more TV children watch, the more likely they are to gain excess weight. (6-10) Children who have TV sets in their bedrooms are also more likely to gain excess weight than children who don’t. (11,12) And there’s evidence that early TV habits may have long-lasting effects: Two studies that followed children from birth found that TV viewing in childhood predicts obesity risk well into adulthood and mid-life. (13,14)"

This from:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obe...

I try not to let anecdotal evidence get in the way of hard facts. Just because it doesn't happen to the neighbor's kid or yours or mine doesn't mean it doesn't happen-- this research is clearly saying that, empirically, it does. Yes, there is a correlation, but I would also stretch this to add that it isn't JUST tv but any sedentary activity which contributes to the problem. Which is why parents are tasked to find balance in ensuring their kids have enough time both outdoors (physically active) and inside, too. Keeping both the mind and body stimulated.:)

Our soon to be 7 y/o has had a tv in her room since she was 3. It is NOT hooked up to cable or antenna. I don't know if we will ever run cable to the girls rooms. I'm thinking probably not.

We use her tv for her vsmile and leapfrog games. She does not spend an enormous amount of time playing video games. They may sit for weeks untouched.

We only let the girls watch tv in our family room or the living room. They are only allowed to watch Disney Junior, Nick Jr, PBS, and WETA kids. On average they don't watch alot of tv anyway. The tv may be on but usually they are playing with their toys and will occasionally stop to watch for a few minutes if something catches their attention.

Another plus for her having the tv in her room is when she is sick. I just pop in a Disney movie and she can stay snuggled up in her bed.

Peace and Blessings,
T. B

When I was a teenager I had a TV in my room, so did my sister and Dad. I have no intention of letting my kids have one in their room, however. I truly believe that it takes away from family time. Also, we killed our TV 12 years ago and haven't looked back. We still watch movies and get some shows on DVD, but that's it.

I've always said that I'm not better than TV, but that TV always got the better of me. Wouldn't you rather your kids chose to read a book, or talk with you, or go for a walk instead of sitting in their rooms watching TV?

Of course, I will never say never, because my kiddos are only 4 & 7, but I don't think a TV in a child's room at any age is a positive thing. Good luck in your decision!

You went immediately from do they have a TV to how old were they when they got one....

Back up.....NO, my kids do not have TVs in their rooms. Never have. Never will.

Well, one time when we moved and they both were toddlers, I set up a small, VCR/TV combo while I unpacked to keep them from underfoot, and that lasted about 2 months.

Otherwise, no TVs and no internet and computers, and no desks in the bedrooms. They work in an office we share and watch TV in the family room. But we only watch TV on the weekends.

My daughter has had tv in her room since she was five.
I never had a problem with her not doing homework, never had a problem with her watching tv to the exclusion of all else, and she has never had a weight problem.

No way no how. But my kiddos are only 3 and 6yo. At this age, I can't imagine them getting their own TVs in their rooms until high school (or maybe college). But, I've done a lot of things as a parent that I never thought I would before I had kids, so my thoughts might change again.

We limit TV time anyway. And in addition to the activity/health issue, screen time before bed makes it much, much harder to go to sleep.

Nope, as my friend tells her girls "Too much TV makes you stupid".

Our kids did not have tvs in their room. Ever. I just never thought it was a good idea. We have a tv in the family room and kitchen. I do have one in my bedroom. Hubby travels a lot and sometimes it is hard for me to sleep.

I don't know about overweight/unhealthy but I feel it takes time away from family. We watched tv as a family. Generally movies.

No, never. My husband and I don't have one in our room either. There is no reason that I can think of to have one in a bedroom. We actually had only one TV in the house until a few years ago and then added a small one to a clubhouse we built for the younger kids in our basement, then got another larger one for all of the kids and their friends for gaming and movies, which is also in our basement playroom. I hate the idea of kids watching TV alone in their rooms - it's just isolated and kind of sad to me, and it's far too easy to lose track of what they're watching and for how long.

No they do not have a tv in their room.

I got one when I was 13.

I don't think I'll get them one in their rooms.

It's a different world we live in now w/computers, iPads, iPods etc that
they don't need tv's in their rooms. We just need to monitor what they
view on their iPods, iPads etc & limit the amount of time they get THOSE
items. We tell them put down the electronics & get outside to play,
move around, get some fresh air, get some exercise etc.

WHY, do kids even have to have, a TV in their bedroom?
It does not matter, how often they watch TV or not.
A kid does not need a TV in their room.
It is not a 'necessity.'

They don't have TVs in their rooms, but we have so many TVs in our house, it's kind of ridiculous. If they want to watch something, there is a TV available.

I have noticed that the older they get, the less TV they watch. I'm okay with that! It seems like we watch TV mainly in the winter time which is when I tend to gain weight anyway, so I don't think the correlation applies to my family. :)

Interesting question!

We have 1 TV in the whole house in the living room. We had one in the master bedroom for a while but we never watched it and got rid of it because it took up a lot of space that we needed for something else.
There isn't room in the kids' rooms for TVs anyway. Bedrooms are a place to sleep and sit and read.
As to what I think about the stigma of having TVs in the rooms making them overweight etc. I don't think a TV alone is the issue. There are far more factors then just having a TV in their room. I did have a TV in my room once I was a teenager and had a couple video game consoles hooked up to it. I was the furthest thing from being overweight or unhealthy. I was active, thin and healthy as a horse. I just liked the unwind time and my parents didn't want the video games where they had to listen to them.
My kids are all active, not overweight and healthy. They watch TV, play video games. They also go out and run around outside, ride their bikes or scooters.
The all or nothing mentality of blame drives me batty!

My kids are 25 and 15. Neither had/has a tv in her bedroom. It isolates them.

No, he will not have a TV in his bedroom but he does have a radio and CD player!

My son is 5 and no, no tv in his room. My question is why would a young child need a tv in his or her own room?? Maybe when he is in high school and wants some more privacy and his grades are good, I will consider it.

Mine do not and it's not something I plan on doing. Not because of obesity just because it's not necessary. I assume they will lock themselves in a room enough when they are teens, this way maybe they will learn to be creative instead of just watching TV. My husband and I do not have a tv in our room either.

My boys are 7 and 9 and they got a tv in their room last year after saving up their own money to buy it. We don't have cable, so they only use it to watch the occasional net flicks and for playing their video games. Having a tv in a kids room will not make them unhealthy, overweight, or inactive, having parents that don't set limits on things like tv and junk food will.

My oldest is going on 9 and it hasn't even come up so I say we have at least a couple of more years. But - I had a TV in my room as a kid starting around 7 or 8. Looking back I can't believe it. Maybe it's bc there weren't so many options what to watch... But I sure as heck am not overweight. I've always been too skinny. So it's like any "poison". Depends how it's used, how it's monitored etc. I don't really associate it with being inactive bc to be honest, reading isn't exercise either... I sure spent a lot of time in my room reading and I don't mind when my kids do that. But if they were reading so much that they weren't getting any exercise, I'd have to monitor that situation too but no one would say reading is unhealthy...

My kids will never have a tv in their rooms. We have only 1 tv in the house and it's in the basement and we do not have cable either. We do have netflix though.

No way. I know a bunch of people who put TV in their 5 year old's rooms and I always wonder what they are thinking.

I would say in high school (perhaps 8th grade) I will allow it. But only if grades are high.

My daughter can use her iPod Touch in her room but is not addicted to it at all. In fact, she usually plays music on it. She has a portable DVD and the rule is that she can't use it in her room. I just don't want to start bad habits.

Nope. Maybe when they are 18 they can have one. We have one TV, more than enough for now.

My Daughter has a TV/DVD player set up. It's not hooked up to cable, we use it to play movies and music. She's had it since she was...2 maybe. It was my mom's but when she moved back North Boo Hammer got it. When she was young we used it for music only, now she's older and got a few approved DVDs, we have movie time when I needed a break.

She's 6 now. Since starting school it's been used mostly on weekends and rain days. As for this summer, I'm trying to limit her to one movie a day and rain days, she can listen to her music whenever she wants.

She doesn't have her own computer, but she has her dad's old tablet (ipad wannabe). It's been wiped and has games and apps that we've approved for her to play. It also has an Internet on/off ability that she doesn't know how to navigate. She uses my computer and has her own Internet Bookmark folder with her name. She knows her sites are there and she knows that if she "wanders" off them she's in trouble. Our computers are out in the open so there's no hiding what she's doing. My daughter's been Tech smart since...2/3 years old. We saw no sense in denying her access when her mommy and daddy are techies.

My husband HATES the idea of small kids having a TV in their rooms! Our teenagers got one when they were 13 & 16 (they shared a room), they also got to hook up the X-box in there & they had a computer in there too! They are 21 & 18 now and perfectly healthy and not over weight!?

Our younger kids always ask for a TV, saying 'all my friends have one..' Blah, blah, blah...but my husband isn't having it! Ha! They will have to wait till they are older, just like their brothers!!

My son has an 8 inch tv/dvd comb. (It only plays dvd's, the tv part isn't hooked up to anything. )We use it every so often. When he is feeling bad, when I was sick, when we have a rainy day and lay down to watch a movie. We leave it unplugged and only plug it in, when there is the specific reason to use it. (He does not have access to where the plug is.)

I don't see any issue with it being in his room. It is not used even weekly, or monthly most of the time. Now, I am against a TV that has cable and can be watched at their whims.

**I had to laugh, because my son is the most active kid ever!!

Yes. They would fight over what tv, dvd, video games were going to be played.

My son got one when he was 8. It has a built in DVD player and cable. He also has xbox in his room.

My daughter got one when she was 4. It has a built in DVD/VHS and NOT connected to cable. She can only watch pre-approved movies that are kept in her room.

I don't plan to ever let them have tvs in their bedrooms.

I'm already tryign to anticpate their laptops and iphones etc and how to navigate that. Its so easy these days to watch what ever you want on all sorts of portable devices. so why would you even need a tv?

tv in bedroom in my opinion doesn't contribute more to obsesity than a tv in the living room. I can see it contributing to teen depression due to isolation and i can see that leading to obsesity. so maybe indirectly, but it's more that the parents don't want you around thing that would lead to depression.

my son has had a tv in his room since he was around 3. he's never been a big tv watcher however. he would much rather play outside or go swimming. so no i dont think in my sons case hes unhealthy because of it, in fact since changing his meds hes lost a good 20 pounds and is now at a more normal weight for a child his age/height :) my daughter has ipod radio in her room, i stream pandora for her at night.

They both have TV's in their rooms. They are on all the time but the kids are used to them and hardly sit down just to watch. They watch while they play. Most of the time I don't know that they are even paying attention. It's more like background noise.

My friend has kids, one is the same age as my granddaughter and her son is 2 years older. They turned off cable and got rid of their TV's. Now their kids sit like zombies and don't do anything but watch TV any time they are in front of a TV. It's really sad. Seeing how my grand kids don't stay glued in front of it and how hers do, I know that my way is better for us.

Our kids do not have TV's in their rooms, but they have a tv in the rec room that is really only used by them, so the kids can watch tv when I am watching my own shows. Their bedroom is just for sleeping and storing their "stuff". We do not watch very much tv in a week, only a few shows, and we PVR them so we can watch them when it is convenient for us. I have never made a big issue about how much time is spent watching tv, but I ensured that the kids were busy enough that they didn't have time for a lot of tv. I will usually send them outdoors if they don't have anything better to do.

No, TV in thier room.

I do not think it would contribute to obesiety. We watch about 30 mins of TV before bed to unwind. I think if they had one, that would make it easier for us to watch what we want, cause they would watch it in thier room. lol

My kids are almost 5 & 2.

Bottom line is we would not allow it to interfere with that. My kids are way more interested in being out swimming, running, biking ... etc than inside watching TV. IF they had a TV in thier room, there would be rules.

My 2.5 year old has a tv in his bedroom (Hubby had 2 TVs when he lived alone and I had one, so when we moved in together we had nowhere to put the third TV). No cable or anything, only a DVD player and a VHS player. When I need to clean the apartment or get something done, I put on a Disney movie in his room. He still plays with his toys while the movie is on. He's not just sitting there staring at it like a zombie. It really helps me out :)

And I have never heard of 'the stigma that kids with TV in their rooms have a high chance or are already overweight/unhealthy... I got a TV in my room when I was 13, and I am actually underweight by 5 pounds (Maybe I fall into the unhealthy category? Lol). Everyone I have known to have a TV in their rooms is not "Overweight/unhealthy".

My daughter does not have a tv in her room. Every Saturday night we put my laptop in her room and let her stay up and watch a movie on Netflix as a special treat.
There is no reason for her to have a tv in her room. Plus there's no room in her room for a tv.

They did not have them here til they got computers in late HS and Netflix. SS has a TV in his room so he can play video games but he's 23. DD will not get a TV. It's not about being overweight. It's about being up too late, watching infomercials and inappropriate content, etc.

My kids are 6 and 2 and they do not have TVs in their rooms. I don't think I would ever let them have a TV in their rooms, but I can't say I won't change my mind when they're teenagers. We have a bonus room upstairs that is a playroom. I imagine in a few years we'll put a TV in there.

They each get to watch two shows a day on the TV in the family room. It works well for us now, though I'm sure it will go up as they get older and my son gets more into video games. sigh.

My two older boys (13&18) have a TVs in their rooms but they are not hooked to the cable only Xboxes and only because we are military and move so much, that is how they keep in touch with their friends. We have rules set up so they are only allowed to play for a hour or two a day depending on the weather. We live in Alaska so 9 month out of the year we are stuck inside. However in hindsight I wish I didn't let them have them in their rooms because once in awhile they will get the idea to start playing in the middle of the night if they wake up and can go back to sleep.

No, our daughter does not have a TV in her bedroom. Our daughter does not have her own bedroom - she shares it with our study. Her parents, while having their own bedroom, do not have a TV in it. We have one TV in the living room.

To paraphrase my folks: "Ooh, where do you have the big TV? In your bedroom?" (Ha ha, Dad and Stepmom. We so love having you over!)

We are just not a huge TV family. As for inactivity, there are plenty of ways for our daughter to be sedentary even with screen time limited to common family areas.

Yes, my daughters share a room and they have a tv in there. They've had it for a while but just recently got it hooked up to cable. Before that, they could only watched movies on it. We bought it on a Superbowl Sunday as I recall so hubs and I could watch the game in peace.

They actually don't watch it all that often. Maybe a couple times a month, but they love to listen to music on it. We are so busy with sports and such that we just don't watch tv that much.

Now, the cell phone and iPad are a different story....

I didnt read the other responses but..my kids got their own rooms at birth. Of course it started out as a nursery in which we converted to a toddler bed/room. Every room in my house (except the bathroom) have a tv. They got their own tv's as toddlers to watch their dvd's and cartoons. Leap Frog dvd's and meet the shapes series taught my 2 year old all of her letters, letter sounds, shapes, colors and is currently learning site words. They also play educational video games on their tv's. It keep them entertained while I do things. I dont see a problem with them having tv's in their rooms. It actually have been beneficial.

A friend of are's gave us a broken tv.We decided to get it fixed and all that.Are eldest(8) wanted the TV in her room.I said no because 1.her younger siblings 7,6,5,would be mad and upset 2 because your to young
Point is i feel my kids should not have a tv till there much older (12 or 13)

We recently got our oldest two boys a nice bunk set and a tv stand to match. We have yet to put a tv in it though bc the lil' monkeys (5 and 3) would probably break it day one! But in a few yrs, we will probably put one in there and let them access Netflix.

Ha, our daughter had a tv in her room with a DVD player. She had DVDs, but he hardly ever watched it unless she was not feeling well. She said she was lonely in her room watching TV.. You cannot get the stations here clearly, without cable..

Sometimes I would want her to thoroughly clean her room, so she would pop in a movie while she cleaned.

It was a gift so, but she hardly ever used it.

My kids are almost 7 & 3 and neither have a TV in their rooms but it is something my husband and I have been discussing. Both my DD and DS are starting to have sleepovers and since there is only a TV in the living room and my bedroom they end up camped out here all night. Also my son does chores and "summer work" to earn time with the wii so when he has earned his time then he takes over the TV in the living room.

I think we are going to end up putting a TV in his room. Probably not hooked up to cable but with a dvd player and the wii.

I think that if a kid has a TV in their room it is still up to you to monitor and not allow them to spend unlimited amounts of time in front of. So for it causing children to become overweight or unhealthy to me is a little far fetched. Monitor it like you do everything else.

When they are older teens and can afford them.

I say "no" to having a TV in the bedroom but my husband insisted that his daughter have one. It used to be a problem with her watching TV in her room and then her father would wonder why she was sitting in her room all the time! I believe it takes away from family time and isolates the child.

Luckily our cable company switched to digital so you have to have a box for each TV and he didn't want to pay extra for a box for her room so now her TV only plays DVDs. Now she rarely watches it.

When we move, she will NOT have a TV in her room. We are getting one upstairs TV for the loft area and that will be the video game/extra TV for the family.

When they were 17 y.o.