TVs, computers and game systems in bedrooms

[Audrey]

Do any of your kids have TVs, computers and game systems in their bedrooms? If NOT, what are your thoughts/reasons on that?

[Guest inoubliable]

No to all three. I can't think of a reason why they need to have any of that in their bedroom. My kids are still young enough that their time online is monitored and their time playing video games is limited. I'd also much rather they be interacting with the family than hunkered down in their bedroom with an electronic device. And, honestly, my kids have never asked about it either. Not even my oldest at 12 years old.

[RoughCollie]

My kids have had computers in their bedrooms for the last couple of years. There is nowhere else to put them because our house is pretty small.

 

When they were younger, I didn't allow electronics in the bedrooms. We had plenty of room in the communal living areas of our former house for that stuff. I didn't want the kids to use that stuff late at night, unsupervised, when they should be sleeping. I also didn't want the kids to live in their bedrooms.

[Maela]

We decided before we had kids that they would not be having any of those things in their rooms. We have one tv in the house - in the family room. TV isn't a huge part of our lives anyway. Games systems are in the family room too because DH plays them (right now our kids are young, so don't really play anyway). As for the computer, we just thought it would be best for them not to have them in their rooms, but I guess I could see myself changing my mind on that one in the future. Mostly we just don't want them in their rooms playing games all day. But I don't know where else we'd put an extra computer (which I'm sure we'll need when they're older)...

[gardenmom5]

my girls didn't have computers in their room until they went to college, and got their own computers. they're adults, they have computers wherever they want them. one has moved out (not sure how permanent that is), and the other is talking about buying a house . . . . :toetap05: (that's progress. I enjoy her. I don't enjoy her "stuff".) since she occasionally telecommutes, she needs the quiet on the computer on those days.

 

my son's have computers for their own use in a common area.

 

I grew up allowed to have a tv in my room. it is way too permissive of what a child does and there is little to no supervision.

[Lisa in SC]

We've always had a no electronics in bedrooms policy for the children. We just didn't want everyone scattered for tv viewing, web surfing, etc. We're very low tech people anyway. We have one family computer, my oldest has a laptop but still chooses to use it in the game room, and then dh has an iPad for work, which I confiscate whenever he's home lol. We have one tv in the family room, one in our bedroom for exercise DVDs primarily, and then we have a smaller tv that's only for the gaming stuff. Since my youngest got his huge indoor fort for Christmas, all gaming has been happening inside the fort which resides sort of between the family room and formal dining room. For us, this works. It encourages everyone to spend time together, makes bedrooms more of a calm, restful environment for quiet activities and sleep, and causes people to be more conscious of what programs are chosen to watch which a) cuts down on mindless, endless viewing, B) makes us mindful of making appropriate choices given the large age span, and c) allows for some pretty awesome discussions. On the rare occasion when some of us want to watch something that's not as suitable for the 2 youngers, they get the privilege of watching something else in our room and view it as a treat. It's just what works really well for our particular family.

 

ETA: The above-referenced "confiscation" is not so dh can't use it; it's so I can. He willingly hands it over when he's here. ;)

[Farrar]

Nope. But these questions are relative. My kids have a Kindle Fire. That's like all three and it's certainly been to their bedrooms.

[Elizabeth in MN]

No to all three, except for the rarely used DSLite my dd keeps in her room. It's not to be used after lights out. Bedrooms are, to me, for sleeping in.

[dangermom]

No to all of them. That's just how it is in our house--no TV or computers in bedrooms. If they play on our tablets that has to be in common rooms too.

[DaffodilDreams]

Dd has a tv in her bedroom, but it's rarely used. She and I use it for Netflix streaming when dh has marathon football watching days. I said no to computer or game system, but she does have a tablet that travels all over the house and it can do all that stuff. It gets so much more use than the tv.

[Arcadia]

We only have a bedroom and it is the warmest room in the home. So our only television is in the bedroom. Our kids computers are in the living room and they can use my laptop which is in the bedroom for school work on chilly mornings.

[mumto2]

The TV's are approved dvd only no reception! Computer is not hooked up to internet but for school cd-rom.

[Night Elf]

I have teens and we have no screen limits because they can self-regulate well. We allow all 3 screens into the bedrooms because we only have one common area other than the bedrooms and the kitchen.The idea of my family having to share one space to use electronics is laughable. I'd go nuts!

 

My answer would have been different if my kids were younger, but there was no ages listed and they are my kids. :)

[Melissa in Australia]

Not any of the children living at my house.

Of course DS18 lives at the university residence. He only has a bedroom, and has his computer in his room :coolgleamA:

[DawnM]

I would have said no and no way to all of these things up until last month! :laugh:

 

My older 2 just moved an older tube TV into their room along with a Playstation 2. All older systems. TV doesn't get TV, but can play Roku. My older 2 kids don't watch TV though. They just aren't interested. THey do play games. We also put two large bean bag chairs in there. It is a cute little corner section to hang out.

 

They are very good about only playing on it with permission (ie: not after bedtime, not during the day, etc...) If they weren't following the rules, out it would go.

[Pawz4me]

Yes. Both boys have all three in their rooms.

[Lily_Grace]

Nope. In fact, the only place any of those are used are in the living room or den. Everything is in an open area for a few reasons:

 

1. We can better monitor content

2. They become less of a single person activity.

 

We have kid safe controls on the computer and keep a family Itunes account. I don't want my kid to grow up with us in the dark. As parents we tend to keep our kids away from certain games/video and by keeping them under watch we can continue to have those discussions as new games and films come out.

[gracesteacher]

We have no tvs in bedrooms. It effects sleep. For me and our family bedrooms are for sleeping. When our dd has quiet time we bring in her cd player to listen to stories. Our house is small but we do all technology out of bed rooms.

[Alessandra]

I said no to all three. Ds takes a laptop into his bedroom to do homework, but the laptop is kept in my room. If necessary, I disable internet, etc. so ds can focus on h/w.

 

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

They never have had any of the choices in their rooms.

However, I may be putting the ps2 and an old tv, not hooked to cable in 16 year old's room so she can play through the Kingdom Hearts series she got for Christmas.

[MomtoCandJ]

Dd has a tv in her room with satellite. It's put on babytv at night for calming music and light. I know it's bad but dh and I have slept with the tv on since we have been together. Dd did have a computer with no Internet but she decided it scared her so we got rid of it. We have no video games except innotab and vpocket which are put up after bedtime.

[Chris in VA]

No to all three while minors, but the boys have laptops and use them whenever and however much they want, as they are adults.

Only one TV for us. Only one computer. Both in den.

 

We found even having two TVs split the family--for a few months, we had a TV in the basement and we found we didn't watch anything together.

Bedroom TVs and gaming systems are too isolating, imo.

 

BUT--dd got a kindle fire for her birthday. It's not hooked up to the internet, but we might do that when she's older, IDK.

 

So, for monitoring, family unity, and encouraging something other than computer and TV activity, only one each and only in public places.

[Hoot]

DS13 does not have a tv or any video game systems in his bedroom. He has a sitting room next door to his room where he has these along with his instruments and toys. He does have his laptop in his room, though, since that's where he does his school work. If there was enough room, I would have put the laptop in his sitting room instead.

[Cinder]

No to all three here. We want them to use electronics in a public area where there is some accountability for what they're doing.

[AimeeM]

Yes.

My eldest (11) has all of the above in her bedroom (tv, pc, ipad, and some handheld game systems). My middle child (3) has a tv in his room and some handheld game systems, no computer (although he does have a tablet with internet access).

My 6 month old son room shares with us until he is out of his crib, so he only has what we have in there - a tv.

 

The main "game systems" are held in the living room (wii, ps3, xbox).

[elegantlion]

I have teens and we have no screen limits because they can self-regulate well. We allow all 3 screens into the bedrooms because we only have one common area other than the bedrooms and the kitchen.The idea of my family having to share one space to use electronics is laughable. I'd go nuts! My answer would have been different if my kids were younger, but there was no ages listed and they are my kids. :)

 

This is pretty much us. Dh is a TV hog (he's usually exhausted after work). Ds doesn't have a TV by choice (he used to have cable in his room, but not since we moved and rarely watches regular TV), but he has computer and game systems. His hobby is working with computers, programming and graphic design. He's built a level of trust over the years, so it's really a non issue for us.

[fairfarmhand]

My ds and dd have a tiny TV with a built in VHS player that my dad gave them. My ds is pretty much the only one who watches this tv so he can watch Blues Clues without driving us nuts. No regular TV service on this TV, just videos.

 

My dd has a computer in her room, but it is so slow that nobody ever wants to use it. She uses it for her Teaching Textbooks, and that computer does not have internet access.

[sparrow]

No to all 3 and we're very lenient on screen time. We don't impose screen time limits because we haven't had an issue with self regulation. They do have iPod Touches they dock at night and listen to music while reading before bed.

 

No one has asked for TVs, computers, or game systems in their room and I don't see a reason to introduce it as a possibility.

[Parrothead]

No, it is too easy to scatter and everyone avoid everyone else if electronics are in the bedroom permanently. Now the three of us, on occasion, will take our laptop or reading device to bed. That doesn't happen very often though.

[jujsky]

I voted no for all, but technically DS has a game system (he has a Nintendo DS, but where it's hand-held I wasn't sure if you were counting those). He also has a Nook tablet, which is like a computer. We do confiscate his Nook after he's done reading at night because we've had too many incidents of him sneaking up and using it all night. The best one happened recently when he e-mailed DH, "Papa, you forgot to take my Nook," and then e-mailed me, "Mama, I'm thirsty. Can you bring me up some water?" Little stinker!

 

I won't do TVs in their room. I grew up with one and cannot sleep without a TV now. I'm afraid the same thing would happen to them. I'm not anti-TV. We have 3 in the house and as long as school is done, I don't limit screen time too much. I don't want them in their rooms because I can see them becoming a problem. DS has already proven he has very little impulse control when it comes to having electronics at night so I know it will be a battle, and I don't want to deal with it.

[Faithr]

Well, my oldest two (22 and 20) have their own laptops so they do whatever they want. My 17 has an ipod which can be troublesome and which I have to take away sometimes at night. My 14 yo has a DSI and I take that away as well. But we've never had TV's, PCs or game systems like nintendo or WII in the bedrooms.

[Ellie]

I don't think minor children need to isolate themselves in their rooms with devices which can be problematic, KWIM?

 

We only have one TV. We all watch it together (well, we did back in the day before we were empty nesters, lol).

[tshirtyogapantmama]

We are a no-electronics in kids bedrooms. Why?

1) DH and I brought grew up with allowing to have TV in our rooms especially in the teen years and we both agree that we watched programs/shows that we wouldn't have watched if in a common area. As well as we both felt it isolated us from other family members at times.

 

2) We don't have the space for desks even though we have extra laptops each of our older kids could have.

 

3) We don't want our kids to get addicted. I have been and can become very addicted to things. Currently, I went off of facebook for a month and I was amazed at how much time I spent on it, reading, LIking, but not really interacting with people, and I was less stressed cause of less family/friend drama. Now I don't have the facebook ITCH that I have to check it constantly. I can go days with out it and I am getting alot more done.

 

4) Electronics are primary tools for our work/school. Entertainment/Fun is secondary. I think if our older ones had electronic stuff in their rooms they would phase quickly out of playing with legos and dolls and go to apps, games, and surfing for hours which I believe isn't positive long term.

 

Yes, I know people allow electronics in bedrooms but I don't want anything (if possible) to be hands-on in my kids rooms. I don't want to have policies and rules. They want to get something out in their room they can no questions asked. They want to share toys, no problem. They understand that whatever they get out they clean up and it works well for us.

 

Our current setup:

 

We have a family TV in the living Room. 2 computers out currently. One in our master bedroom (set up like a little office for me with the screen being able to be scene from the doorway) and another in my DH work-from-home office. We also have a Kindle Fire, smart phone, & PS2.

 

Overall, we do allow the Kindle Fire and weird hand-held game thingy to be used throughout the house. The kids use the Fire for watching Netflix sometimes or playing apps. Sometimes our tot will get the smart phone and play on it a few apps while trolling around the house. The PS2 is in our living room with the TV but put away and limited used.

[Firefly]

Nope. I've just always felt bedrooms should be peaceful sanctuaries and the presence of a computer or tv would be disruptive. We have plenty of computers/tvs in the house, just not in the bedrooms.

[Jilly]

My older son has an old gaming system in his room. All my kids have laptops, ipods, and other various devises that may go in their rooms. My rule is your door has to be open when you are on any device.

[Joshin]

No to all three...usually. We only have one TV, in the basement family room. DH suffers from insomnia, and believes the TV in his room as a child compounded the problem, so he's anti-TV in the bedroom. I also am not a fan of watching the TV to fall asleep, either, but for much less defined reasons.

 

DS12 does have a tablet, which he sometimes takes into his room to read from at night, but he treats it like a book. He also sometimes borrows a laptop to play a game or do school work during the day. But it's permanent home isn't in his room. DS7 has a netbook, which he sometimes takes into his room to watch his space documentaries during the day, or to run instructional videos when he's trying to build something, or to blast music from since he doesn't yet own an mp3 player (he really enjoys Irish drinking music and David Bowie, should I be worried?) Once again though, it doesn't live in his room. These devices only enter bedrooms for specific purposes.

[Dmmetler]

I do not allow DD to have her iPod in her bedroom (and we have TVs and computers in public areas-she doesn't have her own of either) at night, but she can take it in during the day to listen to music or read, especially since she does much of her school reading in her room, and many of the classics are in e-book form, which means either the iPod or the iPad. My reason is that she already often stays up FAR too late reading-I think adding Netflix, games, and our public library's ever-growing collection of e-books on demand would pretty much insure that she NEVER sleeps! She tried to use the argument that her dock was an alarm clock and she NEEDED an alarm clock-so she got a Lego Ninjago Alarm clock for her birthday and the dock stays out in the living areas.

 

She has a couple of friends who have TV/game systems in their rooms, and invariably, when the kids are together, that's all they end up doing-while at our house, where the rule is "nothing with a screen with friends over", and where the TV is in a public area so I can enforce that, they actually end up PLAYING-with AG dolls, legos, make believe, outside running around....

[DianeW88]

No to all three for any of my kids under 18. Obviously my college age kiddos can have whatever they want in their rooms now. Our family computer is in the family room with the screen facing everyone who sits in the room. I think it's safer that way.

[Remudamom]

Mine are grown so I guess I shouldn't have voted. Habit. When they were young none of those things were allowed in their rooms. They each had their own computer but in the schoolroom placed so I could see the monitors. When they were 17 they all got laptops and they go everywhere.

[Renthead Mommy]

He doesn't need it. He wants to watch tv, he can watch in the basement, the family room or sitting in our bed. We don't do video game. He can play at other people's house, but we won't buy games/systems since we don't play them and it would be just him sitting and playing by himself. He has a computer, but it needs a password to turn on. He does have some free game on there and club penguin and Adventure Quest on it. He can take the computer to his room if he wants, but never chooses to. When he's sick he may take the computer to his bed and watch movies or play around but that's it.

 

We've always said no to all those things, mainly because he just doesn't need it. He's got three tv's to use. Putting one in his room would require buying a fourth tv. We only have three people in this house. Plus he's got an entire basement basically to himself.

 

Oh and he's 10 1/2.

[Laura Corin]

We limit screen time, so not having screens in bedrooms makes that easier. We also want to be able to see what websites they are accessing, so they only use computers in public rooms.

 

Laura

[nmoira]

No. The girls can take their tablets into their room, but nothing "lives" there. My eldest sometimes has problems winding down at night, so we strive to make the bed a place for sleeping. I even discourage (though not forbid) her from reading in bed during the day, in an effort not to build up an association. She'd probably stay awake until the wee hours every night reading if allowed, and indeed did when we experimented with setting her own bedtime.

 

We only have one TV that sees relatively little use and two computers, so its kind of a moot point for our family anyway. :)

[magnificent_baby]

No electronics in the bedrooms at all. Ours are fairly young yet, but we plan to keep it that way. No reason to invite temptation that comes along with it. It's hard enough to keep them from seeing inappropriate material in the rest of the house, with us right there, as it is.

[AngieW in Texas]

My kids didn't have any of the three in their bedrooms until they were older. We gave our oldest a laptop for her 17th birthday, so that was when she had a computer in her room for the first time. My dh gave his laptop to the middle dd when she was 16.5yo. At that point, we took the computer that the youngest and middle had shared and moved it into the youngest dd's room. She was 14yo.

 

We have several game systems (mostly bought by the middle dd) and they will be going with her to college when she leaves next fall. The only one we will have at that point is the Wii. The middle dd loves Kingdom Hearts and she will buy a game system just to be able to play whatever new KH game has come out on it.

 

Each of the girls has her own personal DS. The oldest and youngest have the DS-Lite. The middle has a 3DS that she bought to play the new Kingdom Hearts game in the summer.

 

There is no way that the oldest would have been allowed to have anything in her room until she was 17yo. She has a lot of issues with impulse control. At 17yo, she needed to learn how to deal with having full access to a computer so she wouldn't have to learn that for the first time while she was away from home. I wouldn't have had any issues with the other two having a computer in their own rooms from about 13yo.

[Alte Veste Academy]

When I was a teen, I had tv (w/cable & a VCR) and a phone in my room. My mom spent a lot of time trying to coax me out of there and whining about how I never spent time with the family. Logic was clearly not her strong suit. :lol: My kids won't have that pull away from the common areas.

 

I am not a complete ogress though. ;) They do each have a hand-me-down iPod (old-fashioned iPods, not a Touch) which they have full access to for music and audio books.

[kewb]

No, the kids do not have tv's in their rooms. My sister and I had them in our rooms growing up and in some ways I think it had a negative impact on our family dynamic. We were in our own rooms doing our own thing and if it wasn't for the fact that my parents forbid us from having phones in our rooms we would never come out.

My kids are older and now have their laptops in their rooms but doors must be open when they are using them.

No game system in their rooms, either, for the same reason as television.

 

My children do like to point out that dh and I have a tv in our bedroom and I tell them they can make that decision for themselves when they are living on their own. TV/video games are a family affair and we usually do it together.

[Mom-ninja.]

No. Watching TV, being on the computer, and video games are not private activities. No reason to have those things in the bedroom.

 

I also believe in setting up environments for their intended purpose. It helps my SPD ds. Bedrooms should be quiet calm places, imo. For me that means no electronics.

[Wheres Toto]

Oldest dd is away at college most of the time but when she's here she has her laptop in the bedroom.

 

The kids both have tv's in their rooms. They have parental controls on them but 99% of the time they are watching recorded stuff. Both bedrooms open right off the living room (very small house) so we can always see/hear what they are watching.

[OrganicAnn]

We use bedrooms mostly for sleeping. So there is only a CD player in my DD's room. We're not into computer games, etc.

[EducationX2]

My daughter (6) has a small TV with a DVD player in her room. It isn't hooked up to the cable, so she can only watch DVDs, and I don't have any non-kid friendly movies in the house. She almost exclusively watches her old dance recital videos. I'm TIRED of seeing those things, she watches at least one a day and only has three, so I'm quite happy she can watch them in the bedroom!