TVs, computers and game systems in bedrooms

[texasmama]

No to all of the above, though oldest dd has a laptop which she uses in her room. The other three kids have no electronics or TV's in their rooms. Dh and I don't have a TV or computer in our room, either. The little kids have a desktop in the homeschool/living area. My reasoning behind this is that this keeps anyone from becoming hermits in their rooms and also gives some protection to the littles regarding internet usage and potential inappropriate content. If they want to watch TV or use the computer or a gaming system, they will be out in the living area amongst the rest of the family.

[Julie Smith]

My kids have nothing, and I can't see them being allowed to have anything for a long time. (Old teens, or adult children are to far off to think about)

 

We do have a tv in our bedroom. But it is also the only tv in the house. :p It's in our bedroom because it fits in that room. When it was in the living room it made arranging the room difficult. (living room also has to squeeze in a dining room table for school/board games)

 

I see no reason in our family, in our house that a computer, tv, or gaming system needs to be in a bedroom of a child. I don't like the lack of supervision for online stuff.

[Audrey]

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).

 

 

 

I definitely know what you mean, Ellie. Hence, the poll. I need more ammo in this battle.

[Joker]

Both dds have tvs in their rooms, but no cable. They can stream Netflix, but I can't remember the last time they watched tv in their room.

 

Oldest has her own laptop but is not allowed to have it in her room. I'm trying to figure out how to allow her to use it in her room but disable the wifi. She writes on it all the time.

 

Our game systems are only in the living room.

[jennynd]

No to all 3. Even b4 we had kids, hubby and I had agreement that none of those should be in kids bedroom. DS got an I-home for x'mas with alarm clock and radio. We let him bring his iPhone in his room to get charged. Right now I feel that is a very bad idea.

[CupOCoffee]

No electronics in kids bedroom here either. For much of the same reasons as have already been posted: we want to spend time as a family together. Now, I will say that in our family room there are 3 laptops, TV and several gaming systems. Kids also have most of the Nintendo hand held systems. Evenings are spent with most of us doing something electronic, but we are all together in the same room; and interact a lot even with all of us kind doing our own thing.

 

I have my own laptop, Dh has his own, and the kids share one. That one gets used for schoolwork, but still in the family room. Mostly, Dd uses it for writing her stories. Neither of the kids are allowed free access to the internet. They have no ipods, ipads, kindle fires -- if they did, it would still only be used in the family room.

 

So I guess what I am getting at is: no electronics of any kind in bedrooms ;)

[justamouse]

I need caveats to my answers. TVs? Yes. But only the oldest has hers hooked up to cable-and she is at school and work more than she's home watching TV in her room.

 

The boys have a gaming system on theirs, and I am very strict about games allowed.

 

They don't abuse it so I'm not that strict with them. They were just outside playing in the snow for 4 hours. He's more likely to play guitar than play playstation. If I even so much as thought that they were spending too much time? It would be out of their room.

[Alice]

No to all three. Same reasons as other said, we limit screen time and prefer that we watch all together if we are watching something. We only have one TV with no cable anyway so it’s not like they can watch much. We do have Roku and mostly use it to watch movies together or for the kids to watch a video together in the late afternoon. The one TV is in our basement/family room which is not the main living area. We have one main computer in our main living area and then a couple of old laptops in dh’s office. We have no gaming systems.

 

I can imagine that as they get older they may need to use a computer in their rooms, for work or that they would want to for relaxation/entertainment. However, at this point I think we would still want it to be a laptop that they could take to their room if needed but not have it be there as the norm. I don’t have teens yet and I’m wary of being too sure of how I will parent them when they get to that age but I do think that even as teens I would prefer to have them not in their room with electronics.

 

Oldest ds did get a Kindle Fire for his birthday but the Internet function is locked. He can only use it to read or listen to audiobooks at this point. It has a few games on it but he’s not allowed to use it for games without permission.

 

Our kids actually spend very little time alone in their rooms. The boys play Legos in their for long periods of time and my daughter will play in her room some but they seem to prefer to all be together in the main part of the house.

[Kathryn]

No to all three, even when they're older. I had them and there wasn't anything good that came from it.

[Guest Lauren80]

I allow them watching tv, even though it's not the best thing. Regarding computers, never ever, it's the number 1 mistake in my book!

[*********]

No one has a tv in their bedroom at our house. We have one tv in the living room that we use for watching movies. We don't have cable. We also don't have any video games on the tv. We hardly use it. If we watch a movie on it, we do it as a family. And I mean we watch Winnie the Pooh or some other G rated movie. (We're not big into television and movies around here; can you tell? LOL.)

 

Moose and Zee have a computer in their room that has internet access, games, etc. They have specific links they can use for internet; they don't just surf, iykwim. They also have a nintendo ds with games that they share. They are allowed one hour a day of screen time between the computer and ds.

 

Dss, who is almost 16 and spends about 1/3 of his time at hour house, has a 3ds and a laptop. His rules are different than the little boys, and frankly I think dh gives him too much freedom as far as internet access/screen time in our house. But stepparenting/co-parenting is a tricky thing, so I pick my battles.

[Desert Rat]

We don't have electronics in the boys' bedrooms. They do sometimes use handheld games or ipads in the rooms though. The ipads are a new things for us. Only 2 months old, so we're still working on how comfortable we are with them in bedrooms.

 

Right now, my boys are younger and innocent. I like that they watch tv in the living room and play their games there. I am concerned about some content they are capable of accessing and like to keep an eye on them.

 

I think part of it is that I grew up without those things in my bedroom. I listened to music, read, etc. I like to keep bedrooms for rest and quiet. (Then again, I have a tv in my own bedroom, so.....)

 

I guess now with mobile devices like ipads, those things aren't necessary as a permanent structure in their rooms. I like it that way.

 

Sorry for the rambling. You got me thinking exactly why I say no.

[redsquirrel]

We don't have TVs in this house so it is a moot point. The boys don't have their own laptops, so again, moot. Soon my eldest will have a computer (in the next couple years) and I will prob not allow it in the bedroom during non-school hours.

 

You didn't ask, but both boys do have ipods. I allow them in the rooms and both boys have games on their ipods...and netflix. Neither boy has safari, google, youtube etc on their ipod. I removed all of that. They use their ipod in their bedrooms for listening to their music and audio books. My older son will occasionally watch Dr Who on his ipod before bed. I know exactly what he watches because it shows up in our account.

[Element]

I think I needed an "other!" :-P I voted "no" but right now both kids are sick in bed watching movies on portable screens. So, sometimes I allow that kind of thing, but not as a permanent fixture.

[LostSurprise]

We generally do not believe in electronics in rooms.

 

However, I recently got tired of having 3 separate box and monitors cluttering up the living room so the boys could do 'computer time' together in a common area. We reconfigured the time (no more than 60m a day, no more than 4h a week total) and scheduled it in the late evening and we put one of the systems in one of the boys' rooms. Its only used during that time and the scheduled time is such that there is an audience of brothers.

 

The system does not get television or cable. It can't go online. Its just part of the network. There's enough tattling among the group that I'm reasonably sure that there hasn't been any time sneaking. So far, so good.

 

I actually have more problem with the ipod touch. Much less control and its so hard to see if he's online or just listening to music. :huh:

 

Now I need to get dh to move his extra Linux box out of the living room. I'm tired of it looking like a computer storage shed.

[Mom in High Heels]

Indy didn't have a TV in his room until we moved to our current location. We've always had an extra room where we could put the TV and game system, but after Han Solo was born, we lost our extra room. He doesn't have cable. His TV is for approved DVD's only. He has a Wii in his room too, but he's only allowed to play it on the weekend, so I'm not worried about that. He does not have a computer in his room.

 

When we move to WA later this year, we'll have a bonus room and the TV/game system will come out of his room. I personally don't like electronics in the bedroom, but for now, it's the only way we can do it so that he can watch movies that I don't want to and play video games on the weekend. I'll play Mario Cart in his room with him on the weekends, but he always trounces me.

[redsquirrel]

 

 

I actually have more problem with the ipod touch. Much less control and its so hard to see if he's online or just listening to music. :huh:

 

You can remove Safari and google and youtube etc from the ipod touch. It is in parental controls. I removed them, and I made it so a password is needed to create a new account etc. And only I have the password. He can't get online with the ipod. He can't text or send email, because I took it all off. he can play games and listen to music and audio book and I have allowed Netflix.

[Dandelion]

No one in our family has TV's in their room.

 

DS has a computer in his room, but we've removed the wireless card from his CPU and he has a removable wireless adapter that he checks out from me. That way, he can only be on the internet at certain (approved by mom or dad) times.

 

We don't own any gaming systems.

[PachiSusan]

I answered how our family has always been, but circumstances have changed some of it. In our own home, all three answers are "NO". We are living with my IL's right now and there is a TV in the room, and the only place we could set up our home schooling desk (which includes our Mac) was in our room. So right now we live in one room with a TV, a Computer, and all that we own. LOL

 

When we move it will go back to all No's. I don't feel it is necessary to have them in our rooms. Neither one of us grew up that way and it only breeds the older child to stay in their room and allows them to become more anti-social. It's what works for our philosophy, your mileage may vary! :)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I posted no based on my young children.

In our home, the rule is you must graduate first.

[Durriyyah]

We don't allow any of that in the kids' room for a variety of reasons. DD13 can bring the laptop in her room to do work, but given it's much more comfortable to be elsewhere, she usually doesn't. I really want a limit of two TVs in the house: one in the living room, and possibly one in the den so I can work out in private. That limits where the game systems are, though we do each have a computer which can be used as a game system/TV. All our computers are in the den, and we have a laptop that usually lives in the living room.

 

I just would rather my kids get bored and find something else to do rather than always turn to an electronic device, though admittedly it's still the first thing DD13 goes for. Still, I want to limit the availability for the sake of getting outside, and to give books a chance, and to limit surfing on the web to strange places. If I let DD13, she would sit and watch TV for days and never leave the house.

[Wildcat]

nm

[2squared]

I'm not sure how to answer this question. My kids are allowed to take the iPad, iPods, and laptop into their rooms, but the devices don't live in the bedrooms. The iPods don't have internet access, the iPad does have restricted internet access, and the laptop is unlimited.

 

When we have screen time, some kids will play the Wii in the living room, my littles will watch a "baby" show in the family room, and my 10yo sometimes uses the iPad to watch a tween show in her bedroom (No cable here - only Netflix online streaming). If the living room and family room are occupied, bedrooms are the only place left to have quiet for watching a show. Screen time is rather restrictive, and I know what the kids are watching/doing so I'm not concerned with devices being in the bedrooms during screen time.

 

I will also setup my 4yo and/or 2yo with a "baby" movie in my bedroom if I need to keep them occupied while the older kids have friends over.

 

Dh & olders watch PG-13 movies (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings) in our bedroom so the littles don't see or hear the movies.

 

Dh & I take the iPad/laptop into our bedroom if we want to watch an adult show in peace.

[nono]

All our bedrooms are upstairs. None have computers or TVs up there. That's all around on the first floor. Upstairs is for our quieter pursuits like reading and errr, SLEEPING! :) It's a personal philosophy about how our home should be organized.

[ChristusG]

My girls have a playroom and there is a TV/DVD player in there. The TV is not hooked up to anything except the DVD player. My kids always ask me before watching TV (they are allowed two 1/2 hour shows per day). And it's nice to allow them to watch their shows in the playroom if DH and I are watching TV in the living room.

 

My nephew is 17 (lives with us) and has his own computer, XBox (hooked to the internet), DVD player, etc. If he were *MY* child, this would not be the case. However, he came to us at 16 years old and had already been allowed this level of freedom in his bedroom for many years. I don't agree with it, but I don't feel it's an issue that needs to be addressed. My own children will not be allowed this freedom though.

[Jen in NY]

We have our house arranged as nono does... we have 4 laptops - they all live in open, public areas only and never go upstairs.

 

I expect this will change next year, when my dd comes home from college with the laptop she's been using in her dorm room all semester.

 

The times, they are a changin' in my house!

[SKL]

I said yes to the video game only, because my kids' DSs normally live in their bedrooms (when they aren't confiscated due to behavior). They don't play DS very often. If I catch them at it when they are supposed to be sleeping, the DS says goodbye. It's easy to remove, obviously.

 

In general, I never liked the idea of electronics in bedrooms. I don't have a TV in mine, either. I do have my computer here, because this is also my office where I usually work all day (and often half of the night).

 

Other than practical use of the computer, we aren't big on electronics anyway. When we're home (which is only a few waking hours most days), we have enough to do between toys, books, schoolwork, piano, artwork, therapy, chores, general goofiness, etc.

 

When my kids get older, I could see them needing some regular time on the computer at home. But I don't plan on having them in their rooms until at least teen age. Maybe never. I never had a computer (or TV or game system) in my bedroom until I was in my 30s, and I survived. Frankly I wish I didn't have one in here now. I'd probably sleep better.

[Saddlemomma]

No to all 3. We only have one TV - in the LR. We only have one gaming system - a Wii; in the LR. We don't have cable or satellite TV; only Netflix and Amazon Prime. DD has a laptop, but she uses it primarily for school and she is allowed only 2 hours a day for "fun" stuff. Which means, between playing the Wii or watching TV she can only have a total of 2 hours.

 

Recently she lost the 2-hour privilege because she wasn't doing her chores or homework. It's amazing how fast she finished some past-due projects - 3 in one night!

[TheApprentice]

I would never see my kids if they did. For real, for real.

[happypamama]

My children do not have any of those things in their rooms. (We don't have a game system at all.) DD has a cheapie non-internet e-reader that she's allowed to take to her room for reading, and she's occasionally allowed to take my iPad to her room for specific things (reading, doing math), but she's not allowed to surf or play games on it without very specific permission (and any internet surfing is done in the public areas). They're also allowed to borrow my mp3 player to listen to audio books/music.

[MissKNG]

I marked yes to the computer. The family computer is in my small girl's room because that's where we have space for it. If we had another place for it, it would be there and nothing would be in either room.

[Trilliums]

TVs in bedrooms has never come up around here. I might consider it except TVs are so expensive and at this time it ins't worth the price to me. We recently dropped satellite after having it for two years. We do have netflix and amazon prime but the kids rarely seek anything out on it. I, however, have been enjoying watching Once Upon A Time. :)

 

The kids can use ipads and iphones in their rooms with online connections. We have no reason to dis-allow this. They do their school work and see to their responsibilities as needed. I don't have concerns about inappropriate contact online. We have discusses the dangers and they are cautious kids. They both own handheld games systems and I do not monitor the location of them. At this moment, they might not even know where the DSs are. They used to play them regularly up until about age 12. My boys are now 14 and 16. We plan on getting them their own laptops within the next year and we will not monitor their online use unless we have some reason for concern.

 

If I notice my kids spending too much time on a gaming system or computer game, I point it out to them and suggest they do some other things. We have talked frequently about various addictive activities. My concern with gaming is that it can potentially prevent them from seeking out other activities. They know this and we all seek to balance our activities.

[Lady Florida.]

TV - Yes

Laptop - Yes

Game System - No

 

TV and computer didn't happen until he was 14. The game system is in the family room so we can all use it, plus the best tv is in that room.

[somo_chickenlady]

Tv, yes (his grandmother bought it for him, otherwise he wouldn't...we don't have one in our room).

 

Computer, no (we require him to be on the computer in our presence).

 

Game system, yes (Wii).

[Tita Gidge]

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

 

 

We have none of the above in any bedroom.

 

I've struggled for years with insomnia, so I've had to keep those things out of my own bedroom. I don't know that it's helped, but it certainly hasn't hurt. I figure same goes for the kids :)

[MBM]

My son's computer functions as his TV and game system although we also have a wii in the basement. For a period of time, we had him turn in his computer before bedtime so that he wouldn't sneak on and watch YouTube. We also made him turn in his phone, too, since he was watching YouTube on that as well!

[delaney]

Yes to the TV and gaming systems. The internet goes off at 10(on a timer) and the kids may watch tv at night if they use the sleep option and time it. I do not want to here Disney xd of whatever they are watching. I do monitor how much tv they watch but with activities they don't have a whole lot of down time to sit and sit. We have 2 ipads, a kindle fire, 2 laptops, a Samsung Galaxy tab and a total of 9 televisions. We have Netflix streaming and they can watch stuff there as well. With all these options....guess what? They don't really opt for tv that much. Lately the 6 year old had been playing minecraft online on his xbox with his 17 year old brother and friends. HE is the one telling them how to play! Mine still choose outside play or the pool over tv so I am good.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

My DS is only 5 and we currently have no TV, computer, or electronic games in bedrooms, his or ours. We had our computer in our bedroom at one point several years ago, but in general we try to keep screens out of the bedroom because they are not conducive to sleeping.

[Heather in Neverland]

No but mostly because we have a separate game room where they go to play on computers (there are two in that room), or on the Xbox.

 

The only thing they use their bedroom for is sleeping and changing clothes.

[KungFuPanda]

I count having a computer as having TV and I'm always baffled by people who say we never watch television, but we have Netflix. In my book, it's the same thing.

 

Our one TV is hooked to a Mac mini in the LR. Both kids have laptops. DD has a nook and DS has a 3DS and they are allowed to use these things in their rooms.

 

When they were little, all of the 'devices' were in the living room, but now that my baby is almost a teen, we have more stuff. My daughter is in high school, so we're not going to sit silently in the LR so she can do homework down there. She does it in her room. Most days, I homeschool DS in his room, so everything is there. I like to USE the upstairs rooms. Our bedrooms are near one another, they're all a good size, they have better light than downstairs, and they're warmer in the winter.

 

I don't get the argument that furniture is more virtuous in the LR than the bedrooms. I place no value judgement on particular rooms. We all have sitting areas in our rooms. I'm all over this house all day. It's not like a kid can go in their room and expect me to never walk in. We use our whole house. DH and I are the only ones who ever lock a door around here. DS keeps is open at all times and DD keeps hers ajar unless she's dressing.

[dm379]

Both mine have a TV in their room. They can only watch Nexflix and we've never had a problem with them watching anything inappropriate or keeping it on after we say to turn it off. They watch it for a little bit before they go to sleep on non-activity days and that's really it.