We are considering adding satellite TV to our older son's room. I get tired of watching Drake and Josh reruns. I don't really want to do this but it is for my own sanity.

My 12 year old is a good boy -- a straight A student who is a good help around the house and generally pretty respectful of us.

What are your opinions on TV in kids rooms?



I know that we will NEVER put Internet into either of the boys' rooms but TV seems safe enough (after we have set up channel blocks like on MTV!).

I think if the kids are good, and do good in school it's no problem my kids have always had tv in their rooms, and If I need to I unhook it! They would rather play outside anyway so it's not like they are always in there watching it!

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Kristie
mom to Tyler (11/94) & Joycie (3/99)
www.thegrandskofour.shutterfly.com

I dont have a problem with it. I think as long as it doesnt become something that pulls the child away from time that you all would have been doing something together as a family then it is ok.

My boys both have tvs in their rooms and they are not in there that much watching them. It is nice to have the option of them watching something in their rooms when I dont really want to be watching it in the livingroom.

Darlene

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

Oh yea! It's a lifesaver. We have three kids and I don't like to watch cartoons or Drake & Josh, lol. So, we put a TV and satelite in their room.

The best $5 per month I ever spend!

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email is moserlara@yahoo.com

My son has a tv in his room along with expanded basic cable. He also has his gamecube hooked up in there (the Wii is in the front room).

He has had a tv in his room ever since we moved into our house (4 years ago), and just turned 10.

He does not abuse the privilege at all. He knows that at 9pm the tv is off (or earlier if he is tired - he is very much like me in the fact that he won't try to make himself stay up at night - if he is tired he goes to sleep).

He loves his tv. And enjoys watching it at night to relax while he is in bed (much like DH).

As long as a child is responsible enough, I don't see a problem with it.

I don't have a child old enough for this to be an issue yet, so my opinion may be marred by rose colored glasses. I have always said I would not put a tv in my child's room. I figured as a teenager it would be hard enough to get him/her to interact with the family and I didn't want a tv in the room so they could just retreat to the room. I still feel this way but of course my change my mind once the time comes. DH and I don't have a tv in our room because I have always felt the bedroom should be an escape.

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Raising my baby RIGHT!!!!!!

All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

we have an LCD in our dd's room. (we have a tv in each room except for the kitchen and bathrooms--6 tvs total, 3 of them are 23" LCD TVs).

in our old apartment, dd had an internet cable... now she doesn't have her computer...but our new house is Wifi, and she is getting a new laptop in June--so she will have net in her room. I don't have a problem with the net being in the bedroom, because we have the software to install on her computer that "runs in the background" and sends us reports of everything that is typed into her computer...plus it takes screenshots of all chat programs including pogo.

We don't block any channels on tv though.

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SPJRNTGADL!

My daughter wants a TV in her room, I am opposed to it. To be quite honest, I can't put my finger on why I don't like it. Maybe it's because I like the control over what they watch? Maybe it's good for them to fight over the shows/and come to a compromise? All my arguments have holes in them, but there is something about it that I don't like.

Dd will not have a TV in her room until she's much older. She's almost 7. If we did that the kid would never leave her room. Some of my friend's kids (much younger than dd) have TVs in their rooms. I don't think it's right. Especially when you have a 2-3 yr old with one in their room. Crazy!

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I've never lied to you. I've always told you some version the of truth.

I don't allow it. I don't want them holed up in their rooms watching TV and the bedroom is where they are sent when they're being punished, so TV there wouldn't be a good addition. I hear ya on the taking over of the family room TV though, so they have a TV and video game systems in the playroom in the basement. I don't watch that much TV so it's not a big deal....and if I do want to, oftentimes I watch TV in my room. LOL

cj/

I have a just turned 6 year old and almost 8 year old and we do not plan to ever have TV's in their rooms. We think it encourages family to stay apart instead of together. Why spend time with mom & dad when they can watch TV in their rooms? The kids get "their time" on the TV but once it hits 5:00 pm (on school days they get to have the TV on 1 hour after school), it's either off or on HGTV or something we can watch together.

No computer or internet in their room ever! For those who don't have internet but do have computers in your kids room: if your computer has a wireless card (like a laptop), odds are, they CAN connect to the internet using someone else's internet signal. I know our neighbors kids sit on the front porch when their dad isn't home and use the laptop by getting an unsecured signal from someone close by. A lot of people don't have their internet signal's secured. Just an FYI

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Well, both the kids have 13 inch tv/vcr combos in their room. However, it's not hooked up to cable. It's mainly there for video gaming, or watching videos. All the videos as well as video games are downstairs, so I can control how often and what they are playing/watching.

Holly

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Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

I have a soon to be 13 year old dd and a 5 1/2 year old dd. They both have TV's in their room as do we.

They don't abuse it, they don't stay holed up all day in their room watching it.

They both do like us and watch tv at night as they lay down to sleep and it puts them out like a light. I even have to have the tv on to fall asleep too. We just set the timers and they automatically shut off about 8:30 for the younger one and about 9:45 for the older one.

Works for us.

Both of our kids (7 and almost 9) have tv/dvd combos in their rooms and have for quite a while. No satellite in there, though.

They don't abuse it at all, in fact, it's rare anymore that they stay in there to watch a movie with the weather being nice now-they'd rather be outside playing. My almost 9 yr old is starting to have a problem with playing his gameboy, so that's been put up for a while.

no tv in bedrooms here! i'm really anti-tv - my parents would leave it on all night while reading or doing work and it drove me nuts! DS doesn't care for it either, so hopefully it won't become an issue here!

My 6 yr old DD has a 13' TV/VCR combo in her room, has had if for awhile. No cable hook up though, just for movies, my DS goes in there sometime to watch a movie. They are hardly ever watching it though now, outside playing or coloring now.

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" Even though life can be a very long, hard, stressful and never-ending journey, never lose hope in what you want the most."

all 3 of mine (4, 7, 12) have tv's (w/ cable) & dvd players in their rooms. But you'd never know it. every time we turn around, they're in the den arguing over who gets to watch what. UM HELLO? And when they have to watch it in their rooms, they act like they've been banished, lol.


ETA: they've all had tv's ever since they were small, so I think it's not a big deal to them. If they hadn't had it till they were older, then it might be an issue.

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"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? " ~Epicurus

older girls (age 9 and 7) share a room. No TV.

Youngest is 4. No TV.

We have a small TV in our room, and one downstairs in the playroom. Thats it.

Jason

No bedroom TVs here and only one TV in the house. DH and I decided when we first got married that the bedroom is not for TV watching and we followed through with that with our kids. Our thinking is:
We like the fact that they (3 kids) have to work it out when there's a conflict.
We get to see what they're watching and have a say in it
We are together as a family
They do other activities like play outside, read, color, etc. -- all things I'd rather they be doing
Bedroom is where they go for time outs or groundings -- don't want it to be too much fun in there!

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

I agree with Jaded...

dd has a dvd player, portable dvd player and lcd in her room...along with her soon-to-be laptop.

however... 9 times out of 10 she is in the living room watching tv!!

When I boot her out to watch the news or whatever, she acts like she is being punished and reluctantly retreats to the den (not her room!). I have no idea why she doesn't use the equipment in her room, but she doesn't use it that often at all.

weird. lol

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SPJRNTGADL!

No need for a tv in the kids bedroom. They have a tv in the living room( we call it the kids tv room) When the kids get older into their teen years I plan on redoing the playroom into a game and tv room. They can have tv, video games and computer in there and I won't have to listen to it. It'll be up to the kids though. We have a 3 bdrm house so if the boys want seperate rooms as teens they won't get a game room.

You know, Santa gave the boys Tv's one year for Christmas, several years ago. I can honestly say 1 hasn't ever even been turned on and the other might have been on 6 times. They do not have satellite in their rooms though either. They would just rather be with us or in the den watching tv I guess.

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JUST SAY NO! LOL I think it is a bad habit to start. This and tweens with cell phones just seems wrong to me.

Rebecca

We did not have a T.v. in our rooms growing up and our kids don't either. They are 10, 8 and 6 so its probably not going to change either.......We also don't have cable so were probably freaks!!

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Vicki


TLJ Women united in Spirit!

We have always had TVs in the rooms but they've always just had basic cable (no skinimax softcore porn essentially or violent movies or MTV) Extra satellite receivers are a lot more expensive on our plan so we go with the extra cables lines, but i think blocking certain channels and using satellite would be roughly comparable.

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rhapsody112@gmail.com

We did not have TV at all in our entire house growing up -- zip, zero, nada, never.

We have held off for this long for our 12yo son and there is no hurry to make this decision. My son rarely watches TV anyway but we do live in a small house with a small living room. It would be nice sometimes for him to be able to watch in another room and especially when his friends are over and sprawled all over the living room furniture with their stinky feet and other stinky things.

Thank you for the replies.

well both of my kids have tv's and dvd players in their rooms. But they don't have sat/cable. Sometimes they will watch a dvd or play their various plug and play games in there but, they are usually in the family room. they also both have computers, but no internet service.

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All three of my boys have tv's with cable, dvds in their rooms. The oldest who is 16 also has a computer with cable modem. We have three computers in total and all are on a wireless router. They do not spend too much time in their rooms in the summer, they would rather be in the pool or just playing outside. But Michigan has some long winters and they do play a lot of video games then.

We all fall asleep to the tv, they do shut off after a certain time, but I enjoy relaxing in bed and catching up on my favorite shows that I tape on the DVR.

We all have cell phones too and the youngest is 8 and just bought himself a Razer phone...

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#3 Gone To Race In A Better Place...

The boys DO have a tv in their room, but no cable or sat. hooked up to it. Just a dvd player and vhs tape player. They dont use it daily....in the summer since I work at home, once or twice a week, at lets say 9pm I'll tell them its bedtime and that they can watch a movie until they fall asleep....that way I get extra work time....The only TV in the house is in the living room that has sat.....in the kids playroom (which is still only half done...) they have a tv in there that they play video games with...THE plan is eventually I'll finish that room, turn it into the family room, get real tv in there too and nicer furniture....

I just dont want them holed up in their room away from the whole family....LOL (whole family just 3 of us here) ON tv they have to learn to take turns..we dont even watch that much anyways!! (maybe an hour a day!)

No, no tv's in any bedrooms here, not even ours.

We have a tv in the living room and one in the playroom that gets turned on about once a week if that, even less now that it's summer. Usually we put that one on for a movie and make popcorn and let them sit in there on the couch and watch while we watch an adult show in the living room.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

My kids are 10 & 13 and do not have TV (or phones) in their rooms. We have 5 TVs in our house, one is in our bedroom. They both want one, but we've resisted. I've always been opposed, partly because growing up with 5 people we only had 1 and I think they can figure it out. That's not to say they won't ever have one, but it won't be in the near future. They are both outdoors kids, they'd much rather be outside - but they do watch their share of TV.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Drake & Josh is the whole reason, we added satellite to the kids tv's. It has been a sanity saver! We have the parental blocks, and we keep the tv's on timers so the kids can only watch at approved times. Thinking of adding DVR's this summer. I grew up in a house where we only had one tv, and could only watch for an 1 hour a day, and now I always seem to have the TV on, if for nothing else background noise, and when DH is in the field or deployed, I sleep with it on....don't know why but it helps me sleep. The kids actually watch less tv now, then before, I think it's because they don't have to fight over "their" shows.

They also have internet in their room, but the way their computer monitor faces I can see from the hallway, and we have all our parental blocks on that too.....

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"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

NO WAY!!! I have a 14 year old--straight A student (not a B on a report card yet). If a child needs help unwinding at night, have them pick something up to read. I agree that it separates families with everybody off doing their own thing. No computer in her room either. She uses the computer often, but in the eyes of her parents.

I am one of 4 children and we never had a tv in any of our bedrooms. Yes, we fought over who was watching what (even had to walk to change the tv channels--can you imagine?) It worked fine for us.

Why do parents constantly give in to their children only to make their own lives easier? Being a parent is not about taking the easy way out--it's about making decisions that are right for your children--even if they are not right for you!