Not In Our Bedroom!
Posted by Andrea
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)
Before JT and I married we completed 20 weeks of Biblical premarital counseling at our church. Our counselor helped us explore our relationship more deeply and guided us as we pondered the decisions needed to make our family function successfully.
Over the course of those 5 months, JT and I came to several decisions. One of the more obscure decisions was about television. We decided that we only wanted one television in our house and that it would NOT be in our bedroom.
Nearly 6 years later, our family room still houses the only television we own. We saved our pennies and purchased a great one, a large flat screen with a DVR (an absolute must have when you have children and/or only one television in the house!). How have we survived? By learning to wait, using our time more wisely, and of course setting the DVR!
Apparently keeping television out of the bedrooms of teens is a good idea too. A recent study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has shown that teens who have televisions in their bedrooms are less likely to engage in healthy habits. A bedroom television compromises the amount of exercise teens obtain, adversely affects the amount of time teens spend interacting with their families, and limits the teens’ intake of healthy foods. Does this surprise anyone? I don’t think it should.
JT and I don’t have a television in our bedroom and we will not permit the girls to have them in their bedrooms either. We’re increasingly disturbed by the filth found on television at all hours of the day. Besides that, we’re big on family here, so we’re enjoying our time together without the constant distraction of television. No, we’re not ready to toss the toss the television (at least not yet); we just don’t want it to become a substitute for quality time with those we love.
