Keep Television Out of Your Young Child’s Bedroom

“Should I get my child their own television for their room?”  Whenever I am asked this question my answer is always a resounding “Absolutely not!”

I say this because:

• Using a TV for reward or punishment gives television too much importance.
• Watching TV as a family allows parents to monitor programs, and limit length of time spent in front of the TV.
• Watching programs together gives parents the opportunity to start conversations on what they see.  For example, “What would you have done if you were that child?”
• Watching together allows parents to look for programs that can excite your child’s interests, and encourage reading (a story dramatization, wildlife or nature adventures, science, or history programs.) 
• Having a television in your child’s bedroom can over stimulate your child and delay needed sleep.  (“Just five minutes more please"…)
• American children watch an average of 3 to 5 hours of TV each day.  In my opinion this is 2-4 hours too much!

For a young child TV time can be fun and even educational. However, letting a young child watch unsupervised television for hours on end is a bad idea.