Your (sane) sister may be proven right in a few years Some of us do actually change our minds by the time our kids get to 20.
You said it has a built in DVD… no need for a cable outlet. Get some Baby Einstein or whatever is in fashion these days for kids (Teletubbies or Barney was it when my kids were little), or go up a notch and get something like the Oceans DVD’s from Discovery and if ever you spend a night with a kid who is upset you can watch something calming to you while you try to calm you child.
The same way you would know they were watching TV in the living room while you were on the other end of the house.
And it is weird as heck seeing the attitudes on this board, but, again, it is another dimension compared to the world in which I live. My parents were the freaks who didn’t let us have a TV, and that was back then. Now it’s pretty de rigor to let your kids have all sorts of things. A kid at 7 will have their own smartphone, for sure. So I guess they don’t need a TV, if they have Netflix.
None of these kids are any dumber than the others, nor are they less active. Some are as smart as I was at that age, and they handle social interactions better than many adults.
I can’t imagine my opinion changing if I became a parent. Restrictions take a lot of work, and it’s inefficient to restrict something without sufficient information that it actually causes harm. If I saw some bad effects, then I might try changing things. But if your kid can handle himself, there’s no point in interfering.
Not that I don’t think giving a kid a recreational gift they can’t use by themselves isn’t weird. The gift was really to the parents. And parents generally already get gifts. Give the kid something they can use.
My daughter is ~4 and has had a TV in her room for a couple of years… She never watches it except at night while she’s falling asleep. She just isn’t in to TV that much. It’s been a life-changer for me and her mom though… before the TV, we had a hard time getting her to sleep, but now it’s not a problem at all.
Ever think about reading to her? I did this for my kids, and told them stories, and it worked just fine, and exposed them to all sorts of excellent literature. Much, much better than a TV.
I would consider putting a TV in my daughter’s room. It would mean that sleepovers could be in there instead of the basement and she is far too busy to abuse it and watch when she should be doing other things.
My son, however, will not be getting one. He would most certainly turn it on in the middle of the night and not sleep properly.
As it stands now, it’s not come up and I’m not going to be the one to do so.
I take issue with the part I bolded. This has been scientifically proven to be untrue. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Cite Granted, this cite is mostly related to kids and teens; however, babies are even more strongly affected by TV.
Just because “restrictions take a lot of work” doesn’t mean you don’t implement them. And since TV watching in kids has been proven to cause harm, it’s worth restricting.
Our boys (ages 6 and 4) share a room, and they don’t have a TV or any other electronics in there. I don’t expect they will ever have a TV in their room, but one never knows. They are allowed one hour of screen time (including computer time) on weekdays and two hours on the weekend.
We have a TV in our bedroom, but only because two cable boxes are included in our HOA fees. We wouldn’t have paid extra for it. We turn that TV on once every two weeks, maybe less. It does come in handy if we want to watch two different shows, which is rare. We have an open floor plan, in which our living/dining/kitchen/family rooms are all open to one another. There are times when we want the kids to watch TV behind a closed door. For example, if we have another family over for dinner and the kids are done eating (and done politely waiting for the adults to finish), and the adults are lingering at the table. Or when a sick kid is up in the middle of the night.
Some of us do actually change our minds by the time our kids get to 20.