Bedtime Viewing

Q: My two kids (a fifth grader and a seventh grader) have TVs in their bedroom that they’re supposed to turn off at bedtime. However, lately, I’ll walk by their rooms after they should be in bed and hear the TV on. They promise to do better, but within a few weeks, they’re back to their old habits. Should I pull the plug?

A: In a word, yes. But if you need more convincing, these highlights from recent research should spur you to get rid of the televisions in their bedrooms—and severely limit TV viewing in general. (My blog on Tuesday talks more in-depth about why TV viewing should be rare for kids of all ages.)

First, having a television in a child’s bedroom significantly increases the chances of that child being obese in childhood and adulthood. A 2012 article in Science Dailyrevealed that “70% percent [of American children] have a TV in the bedroom and about one-third of youth aged 6-19 is considered obese. Previous studies have shown that TV viewing time during childhood and adolescence continues into adulthood, resulting in overweight and elevated total cholesterol.”

Image courtesy of digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Second, having a television in a child’s bedroom decreases the parent-child bond. An October 2012 article in Huffington Post quoted Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, an assistant professor with the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam talking about this: “Experimental studies have shown that background TV exposure has been linked to lower attention when kids are playing and weaker parent-child interactions.”

Third, having a television in a child’s bedroom lowers the amount of time that child spends reading, which in turn means weaker classroom performances. A University of Michigan Health report found that “TV can discourage and replace reading. Reading requires much more thinking than television, and we know that reading fosters young people's healthy brain development.”

Fourth, having a television in a child’s bedroom reduces the amount of sleep that child gets. “A bedroom TV may create additional disruptions to healthy habits, above and beyond regular TV viewing. For instance, having a bedroom TV is related to lower amounts of sleep and lower prevalence of regular family meals, independent of total TV viewing time,” said Piotrowski.

Personally, I think those are four excellent reasons to chuck the boob tube out of their bedrooms for good.

Do you have a parenting question you would like to see answered on this blog? Email Sarah through the contact page with Parenting Question in the subject line.