According to the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, at least one-third of children younger than age 11 and at least two-thirds of children ages 11 to 14 have a bedroom television. Personally, I had one by the age of 10, after pleading with my parents and saving enough money to buy a cheap 13inch screen Broksonic television. 10 years later, I still have it in my room. It really didn't increase my television viewing that much, it just changed the location. It also lessened disagreements and conflicts over TV usage. Since I had my own, I could play videogames or watch TV at my own discretion. It has also been a helpful tool for falling asleep.
But the article gave the notion of having a television in a child's bedroom a much more negative connotation. Previous studies indicated that a child with a TV in his or her bedroom watches more television per day than one without a TV in his or her bedroom. As TV increasingly becomes a tool for socialization, "the process through which people learn specific normative beliefs, values, and behaviors," a TV in a bedroom gives a child more opportunities to learn vicariously and not by experience.
Several theories have evolved attempting to explain the role of media in socialization. One that is widely accepted is Social Learning Theory. In Social Learning Theory, "virtually all cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning from direct experience can also be achieved vicariously." Movies, videogames, and TV shows could all potentially contribute to this type of learning, which coincidentally all could involve the use of a TV set.
The negative connotation arrives when the subject of TV content comes in. If students are vicariously learning that smoking is cool, or violence is alright, then a TV in the bedroom allows children more opportunities to view the wrong messages. Of course, no shows condone children making bad decisions, but it's up to the parents to make sure what their kids are watching is suitable.
Personally, I don't feel that I've learned any different from having a TV in my room for the last 10 years. My TV watching did not change much from when I didn't have a TV in my room to when I did. That same learning described in Social Learning Theory, positive or negative, could've happened anywhere in my case.
Jackson, Christine, Brown, Jane D. , & Pardun, Carol J. (2008) A TV in the bedroom: implications for viewing habits and risk behaviors during early adolescence. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Television Report
