Defying Experts: Bedroom TV Stays!

by Pauline Jennings

Do you have a TV in your bedroom?  We do.  It was installed there a few years ago in preparation for my back surgery recovery.  It has stayed there ever since.  Yes, in the face of the experts that rail against it, we are keeping the TV in the bedroom.  We like it there: damn the consequences.

Note: We watch pretty rarely – never the news – usually movie - maybe a few times a month.  I think moderation here is key to why it works for us.

Consequences?   If you haven’t heard, many studies have been done and many, many psychologists speak of the numerous problems (insomnia, obesity, lower grades) with kids having TVs in their rooms (they are outlawed for my kids’ bedrooms), but how about adults?  What effect does it have on couples?

Well, one report I read found that Italians (the study was done in Italy) with a TV in the bedroom have sex at least half as many times per month (one article said 7 times down to 1.5, another said from 4 to 2…) as their no-bedroom–TV peers. Yikes!

Another study (in Osaka, Japan) said that people perceive they get less sleep if they have a TV in their room.  I don’t know what that means. (I only included this because it is such a goofy thing to report)