I saw a Rueters news article the other day that said kids that have TV’s in the their bedrooms tend to be more tubby than those that do not.
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By Will Dunham, Reuters WASHINGTON (April 7) – Teenagers with a bedroom television tend to have poorer diet and exercise habits and lower grades in school than those without one, U.S. researchers said on Monday. While many studies have examined TV viewing habits of young people, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health said little had been known about the consequences in particular for older adolescents of having a bedroom TV. They questioned 781 adolescents, ages 15 to 18, in the Minneapolis area in 2003 and 2004. Of them, 62 percent reported having a television in their bedroom. |
My first thought was that I hoped no tax dollars were used to come to this "startling" conclusion. My second thought was I REALLY hoped no tax dollars were used for this.
This is just common sense, if you have everything you need in one room, why leave?
I have always thought that TV’s and computers had no real place in a bedroom. My personal thoughts are that the bedroom is for sleeping, light reading and the occasional pillow fort, nothing more.
As a parent, well, having a TV, game console or a PC in your kid’s room you are just asking for trouble. I guess I am one of those JERK parents. I just know what my friends did when they used to watch late at night if they had TV’s in their rooms. Let me tell you it was not PBS Sprout they were watching.
A few months ago I ended up talking to a young kid about his TV habits, much to my dismay he was all too familiar with late night programming. I asked if he had a TV in his room, yes, yes he does. Hmmm, his grades stink, he is somewhat over weight and he seems to have a hard time staying awake in school.
See, I did not have to spend anything to jump to that conclusion. TV in a kids bedroom (or an adults most of the time) is just a bad idea.