Should You Allow A TV in Your Kid's Bedroom?

Every parent faces the haunting decision whether or not to place a TV in their child’s bedroom. After all, TV’s not all bad. 

Television is entertaining, educational and opens up a whole new world for kids . . . right from their bedroom.

The reverse can be true as well. After researching the leading journals of pediatric and adolescent medicine, the Science Section of the New York Times concludes:  “Children with bedroom TV’s score lower on school tests . . . Having a television in the bedroom is strongly associated with being overweight . . .”

What’s really scary is that TV watching is happening earlier in life than ever before. According to a University of Michigan article, “TV viewing starts earlier than other forms of media—often beginning before age two.” BabyFirstTV is billing itself as the first satellite channel catering to infants.

It used to be that most children did not watch television until they were three years old.  Studies now tell us that children start watching television or DVDs by the time they hit nine months on average.

Others dangers come with the territory of allowing your kid to have a bedroom television:

•TV watching in a child’s bedroom increases overall TV viewing.  Radio talk show commentator Michael Medved writes in his blog: “One alarming study of kids between the ages of 4 and 7, showed that placing a TV in the bedroom increased weekly viewing by nearly nine hours – from 21 hours, to 30.”

The additional time spent watching television means your child is not performing other tasks: reading, practicing a musical instrument, playing sports or eating dinner with family members.

•Children who spend more time in front of a TV set have a tendency toward weight problems.  A 2002 study in the journal Pediatrics demonstrated that “the presence of bedroom TV’s showed a greatly increased risk of problems with [being] overweight and obesity – especially for boys.”  With the additional time spent flipping through channels, less time is spent enjoying sports activities and there's a greater tendency to snack on TV junk food.

•Half of American children have a television in their bedroom. These statistics make it harder for Mom and Dad to remove the TV from their kid’s bedroom. Thanks to this statistic, here’s the standard line you’ll get: “Why can’t I have a TV set in my bedroom?  All my friends at school have their own TV sets in their bedroom?”  Good luck with that!

•One of the most serious by-products of bedroom television is lower school grades.  Having a television in your child’s bedroom becomes a distraction from completing homework and during test preparation time.

In the case of 70% of the children in a study done in six Northern California schools, children with TV’s in their rooms scored consistently lower on math, reading and language-arts tests.  In contrast, students with computers in their rooms scored higher.

What’s a parent to do?   A NY Times article boldly suggests, “Ban the bedroom TV.”

Removing a TV from your child's bedroom is a hard choice to make.  However, consider the harm that can affect your child's physical, emotional and social growth if you refuse to deal with the problem. 

John   
Email John: johnsblog@teshmedia

My new book Intelligence For Your Life:  Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth is now available in your local bookstores or you can order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

Comments

[Karen Cox]

I am so glad to see stats on this issue of TV in the kids' bedrooms.
My husband and I are parents of 2 young adults in college - we had our children while in our 30's. While my sister had a child 8 years before us we were able to see what we DIDN'T like and we discussed it. It seemed that we never saw our nephew as he was watching whatever in his room. When it came time to add a TV in our children's room, we opted for NO CABLE, however a VCR only and/or their game machine - with a time limit. It's also very important to stay on top of what they're doing and keep the door open. My husband and I also have no TV in our bedroom. Our children, although not good testers (SAT scores) are in really good universities and doing well academically. My nephew failed in college but is now in the Air Force and working toward completing his education - pushing his cousins along with stories of how and why he failed.
Thanks for your SHOW!!!!!
Karen Cox
Ormond Beach, FL

[Kerri]

just wanted to comment quickly...all three of my kids have always had tv's in thier rooms, and are very skinny and smart. I grew up having one in my room all my life, and had really good grades and was fairly skinny until i had kids...my husband never had tv and was heavy all his life and poor grades. i think if they have it from the start it won't be such a big idea or "new" thing. Also some parents use it as a babysitter which is the BIG problem i feel, still take your infant to the park and play board games or etc as they get older. show them there is more out there than video games and tv. and don't allow snacks in thier rooms and they won't associate food with tv. thanks for your time.