apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

No TV in a kid's room, and limited time watching the communal one.

There is NO "Appropriate TV" for a child's room. Period.

Televisions should not be in ANYONE'S bedroom, child or adult. Televisions in bedrooms disrupt sleep patterns and are strongly correlated with insomnia and other sleep disorders. Plus, televisions in a child's bedrooms cannot be monitored for content or amount of time spent viewing.

No computers in a child's bedroom either. To monitor your child's Internet activity, put the child's computer in the most highly trafficked area of the house.

Also, do NOT buy your child a smartphone (iPhone, Moto Q, Pre, etc...). The dumbest, feature-less cell phone will also help keep your child out of trouble.

Jeez haggie, way to rule with the iron fist. I had a computer in my room growing up for things like homework and stuff. you have to trust kids at some point.

I agree with these people...

Which tv is appropriate? Er. None. Sorry.

Kids should not be babysat or put to sleep by a television... In my house, we don't even have cable, and we're so much happier for it.

I was given an 8-inch tube tv when I was 12 and was only allowed to watch one hour of shows on it. And Mom and Dad were in my room with me when we watched it. It made me feel a little more grown up (and a little bit cool). And it didn't take away from family time or disrupt my sleep (which is sad because I go to sleep with the tv on now and I'm 10 years older). I don't have an opinion on whether or not you should give your kids a tv (since I'm not a parent, I have no opinion). But this is what my parents did.

@Landmark: I had a computer in my room growing up too, but that was 15 years ago before we had the interwebs.

When we have kids, I will likely leave the computers and tv out in the main areas. Mostly because I just don't like having many electronics in the bedroom.

No such thing as an appropriate TV for a bedroom, especially a child's.

I had a tv in my room growing up, but don't anymore and my kids definitely will not have one. Computer, maybe.

It's discerning to see so many parents afraid of technology, here in these comments.

"To monitor your child's Internet activity, put the child's computer in the most highly trafficked area of the house."

That one made me laugh, as it is so fascist it is comical.

Instead of trying to restrict a child's access to information, people may want to try a different tactic.

It's called "parenting".

I don't think having the computer in a common area of the house is fascist. I think talking openly to your kids about internet safety, and "trusting but verifying", is in fact good parenting. You may have a wonderful child, and a wonderful relationship with him/her, but that does not mean you will be able to fully prevent inappropriate material or strangers from finding a way into your child's world.

NEVER!

wow, surprised (but not entirely...) at people's comments on here about this.

First of all, with the idea of having a tv only hooked up to a game system, no cable... ever heard of an antennae. We didn't have cable at my house until i was 20 and had moved out.

Next. I had a tv in my room (i am probably a lot younger then a lot of you) when i turned a certain age. I don't remember when exactly, 10 or 11, somewhere in there. Was i watching dirty movies, no, was i watching stuff i shouldn't have been, not really.

You need to give kids their own space, and let them do some things on their own. Stop restricting everything they do, that is going to inhibit their learning as well.

Limiting their computer usage is going to do the same thing. If i didn't have a computer at a young age and use it whenever i wanted i wouldn't have started making websites when i was in 7th grade when the web was still new. Eventually to be a computer programmer then graphic designer.

Sometimes the things that you might think are bad for your child are actually good for them...

@jmorey There are no antennae anymore, didn't you hear it's all digital now?

Gotta agree with some previous comments I would never put a TV in a bedroom period, whether it was a child's room or not.
As for computers, I also grew up with one in my bedroom. None of them ever had wi-fi capabilities so I only used the family computer to get on the internet. But it was great for homework, playing games and designing my very own personal websites. I'd certainly consider giving one to my children.

No TV in anyone's bedroom at my house. My TV watching was limited to one hour a day when I was young, which I usually spent watching Sesame Street. When I have the TV on at home and my one-year-old is in the room, she watches the screen with this glazed look. It breaks my heart so I'll probably institute a similar rule to the one I had...or maybe no TV at all.

No computer in the bedroom either. It may have been fine when a lot of us were growing up. No one had heard of internet predators in the 1980s (heck--hardly anyone had even heard of the internet). But now, all of my childrens' computer usage will be closely monitored by me.

My son has a computer and a tv. And he hardly watches it. I think it has to do with being a family and being active outdoors. My son would rather play outside all day then watch hours of tv. As for the computer, my husband is an it guy and we have our own servers and it is highly monitored and we have access to all passwords and sites visited. I don't believe it's a problem, as long as the parents know what is going on.

no electronics in the bedroom, not even for grown-ups except - may be - a clock

No TV in a childs room. It's like inviting the devil.