At what age is it acceptable?

To have a TV in a kid’s bedroom?

Just asking ‘cos my brother-in-law is getting one for his kid’s 5th birthday which I think is absolutely ridiculous.

At no age. TVs are not for bedrooms.

When they can afford to pay for it themselves. I’d not allow it in my house.

At whatever age they get their own house at!

The correct answer is when the parent considers it so.

FWIW, my kids won’t be getting one until they’re much much older than 5.

And his two older kids (7 and 9) have iPads.

Call me old-fashioned, but b0llocks to that for a party.

At no age. TVs are not for bedrooms.

My mother thought the same until I got a mega drive.

iPads while I consider them overly expensive for young kids myself, are a rather different matter IMO.

The correct answer is when the parent considers it so.

This is no place for such sensible answers; how will such a subjective question turn into a argument otherwise?!

Tomy MyFirst 4k FTW!

how will such a subjective question turn into a argument otherwise?!

Don’t you worry about that. It’ll happen in good time.

Fair comment.

In that case, burn any parents who put a TV in their kids’ rooms before the age of 15.74. It’s the only right way.

There’s no right and wrong, and it can always be removed.

johndoh – at what age did your kids have a tv in their bedroom?

A TV in the bedroom

it will never end well

Don’t know about that, Conchita is doing very well for herself.

Whilst I agree that 5 is too young, I think I would sooner they had a TV than something connected to the internet.

Why would you have a TV in the bedroom? There are other things to do in there…like sleep.

We have a blanket ‘no digital’ in the bedroom rule. Enough of that shite in my life, best to have at least one place where it is not.

johndoh – at what age did your kids have a tv in their bedroom?

Mine are 5 (and don’t have them). I am anticipating having to have the discussion with them when they find out their cousin has one….

I wouldn’t even have a TV in the house, let alone in a kid’s bedroom (not that I have kids myself, but none of my nephews have TVs in their rooms FWIW).

We have a blanket ‘no digital’ in the bedroom rule.

Alarm clock?

I wouldn’t even have a TV in the house

this always surprises me. Mine was on for an hour last night while I was watching a mildly interesting programme about castles, then it went off.

Do you not trust yourself?

Edit. It’s just a thing…like a kettle. No one ever said, “oh those kettles, I couldn’t ever have one, it’d be boiling all day long”

I wouldn’t even have a TV in the house

I got rid of mine three years ago, recently moved to a house that has one. To be honest, I can’t really trust myself not to watch rubbish and I’m thinking about getting rid of it again.

There is no good age at which children should have a TV in the bedroom IMO. some people disagree with this, some people agree. It depends on how much value you place on indoctrinating your kids to be passive, judgemental, unobjective consumers of utter shart.

footflaps
I wouldn’t even have a TV in the house, let alone in a kid’s bedroom

But a computer is much better. Nothing on the internet but good wholesome edutainment.

Do you not trust yourself?

Partly this yes, if it’s not there you can’t accidentally end up watching choss. However, there’s no desire at all to have one as 99% of the time I watch something on iPlayer I just give up half way through thinking it’s drivel.

On an interesting note, if you read a transcript of a ‘high brow’ programme like Panorama, it takes about 5 minutes to read. Yet as a TV programme it wastes 50mins of your life. TV is a very inefficient medium for many things.

Yes I think it is a silly idea for a 5 year old to have a TV in their bedroom.

iPads for 7 and 9 year olds is more debatable I think. Depends what they are used for and for how long. You can’t judge without context.

FWIW our eldest daughter was messing around with iPads when she was 2 (not her own) and had to be banned from using them in the end (about 6 months later) as it was obvious she was getting addicted. She’s 5 now and does have an attraction to computers in general. I don’t see a problem with that as long as it’s carefully managed. She certainly won’t be having a pc in her bedroom anytime soon!

On an interesting note, if you read a transcript of a ‘high brow’ programme like Panorama, it takes about 5 minutes to read. Yet as a TV programme it wastes 50mins of your life. TV is a very inefficient medium for many things.

1. your idea of interesting is not one I share
2. “waste” is a subjective term, I’ve learned a great many things from telly; Ethics, Beckett, and so on, but I’m happy to be entertained by moving pictures, and my brain’s not fallen out of my ears yet.
3. Yes it is, however it’s a most excellent medium for a great many things. Moon landing? Twin towers?

It’s 2014; why on Earth would you need a TV in a bedroom. Isn’t that what phones and tablets are for?

Sorry, they both got the iPads when about 6 or 7 I recall. I do see the point of giving a child access to technology (we let our kids use our iPad at weekends) but to buy them one each (no doubt the 5 year old will be getting her own iPad in a year or so) is a bit excessive I think.

They are also getting an expensive games console (PS4 I believe) for Christmas. At least they are sharing that.

It is all just a bit obscene – the most expensive presents our girls are getting are about £25.

Better than a ‘no oral’ in the bedroom rule I find.

So really this is a thread about cost of things rather than what they are.

You’re just jealous of them, aren’t you? (deliberately contentious comment 🙂 )

Why not spend some of that spare time they have not watching TV to teach your kids to be a lot less judgemental than you are?

No I am not jealous at all, I just think that children should learn the value of things more and should have access to such things more limited.

Judgemental? Probably. Do I think my brother/sister in law are obsessed by material possessions? Yes.

I feel that the thread is now ready to descend 🙂

FWIW, as I said above, I would consider iPads overly expensive for young kids. Tablets in general less so.

And FWIW, you can spend money on material possessions without being obsessed by them. As usual it’s a question of balance and values. By my reckoning my kids probably have a lot of toys but they have it hammered home to them that while material things can be nice, they’re not important in the way that people are.

footflaps – Member
On an interesting note, if you read a transcript of a ‘high brow’ programme like Panorama, it takes about 5 minutes to read. Yet as a TV programme it wastes 50mins of your life. TV is a very inefficient medium for many things

Off topic, but this is a very valid point. even the stuff that isn’t supposed to be dumber than a bag of hammers is watered-down to idiot level, facts repeated for the hard of concentration and whole chunks of the story are edited out.

Back to the OP, but my real concern with TV is not so much the over-sexualisation of just about everything for no particular reason, but the preponderance of violence in films somehow still deemed fit for children.

When I moved house the people who moved in have 7 TV’s and 1 bike between the 4 of them.

We had 1 Telly and 7 bikes…

This might not be the best place for a reasoned and balanced answer

What if you have 7 bikes and 7 TVs? Who are you superior to then? 😉

that children should learn the value of things more and should have access to such things more limited.

How do you feel with the fact I just bought my lad a present for £300 and gave it to him just because… not because it is Xmas…

And now, add into the fact it’s an Islabikes…. does that make it more right or wrong ?

Kids have years to learn the value of things IMO, their childhood is for learning to be a child 🙂

My boys had little portable dvd players at around 6-7 just to watch kids films, my eldest got a freeview TV at 12. I’d not put a TV in a kids room till secondary school starts as a minimum. Having said that they barely watch TV both on Tablets all the bloody time!

In my, somewhat narrow minded, opinion the answer is “never”. Watch TV downstairs then go to your room for sleep. I had one in my room for a while and found the temptation to watch random crap until late at night was not good for my sleep or state of mind (or for the amount of “romance” for that matter). I got rid and will never have one in my room again.