Allow gaming PC in bedroom?

[Anonymous]

Do you allow your teen to have their PC they game on in their bedroom? My teen is getting one for Christmas but we are wondering if we should put it down the basement instead. The temptation seems to great to play when should be sleeping. We do have a router with parental controls, ability to turn off internet, however this wouldn’t work on downloaded games. What has worked for your families?

[Anonymous]

How old is your kid? 13 or 17? This matters. We had it out of the room but in a different space in the house, like a computer room, because we had the space. I thought it would be good to be out of his room but where we could keep an eye on him as a young teen.

Now he’s older and on gaming computer 2. Older = louder and later at night. I want it moved in the basement, far away from any of us.

[Anonymous]

And I don’t want it in my DS’s bedroom because it’s close to our bedrooms. He plays games that involve him talking and he’s loud, no matter how much he tries to be quiet. He didn’t do this in middle school but does now.

So I vote basement.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not. Should be in high traffic area of house for accountability. Not basement, not bedroom.

[Anonymous]

Not allowed in 15yo DS’s room. I know he has screen addiction and this would be too tempting. We keep it in the basement. He used to scream but he’s gotten a lot better after multiple reminders to keep it down. Also, I feel like the bedroom should be a calming space to sleep, so he doesn’t even do his homework there. Another point is that if he has friends over and want to play together, it’s better to have them in a common area rather than all cooped up in his room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not. Should be in high traffic area of house for accountability. Not basement, not bedroom.

Yes, I just said basement and this is better advice. My kid is 18 now and considering you are talking about parental controls and wifi, I’ll assume yours is much younger. If you have space, do this.

[Anonymous]

You want it in the basement because gaming is loud.

He’s gonna be in college soon and then his gaming system will be in his bedroom.

But for now have it in the basement so you feel like a good parent whether it actually makes you a good parent or not is neither here nor there.

[Anonymous]

Not on my watch.

[Anonymous]

Not the bedroom. Basement or another common room that is not the main living space if you have one.

[Anonymous]

No. Are you insane?

[Anonymous]

Do NOT put it in the bedroom… your DC will spend day in-day out locked up in there. Sleep will be ruined, and goodness knows what DCs up to on that thing. Put it in the basement, somewhere other than the main living area and the bedroom!

[Anonymous]

Hard no to bedroom.

[Anonymous]

When my son got his gaming computer, at 1 for Christmas, it was in his bedroom. He just went off to college and it remained in the bedroom the entire time. No issues with sleep, or being too loud. You set rules, and it is the expectation in our house that you follow them or the privilege gets taken away. To each their own I suppose. For what it is worth, our teen never really gave us any trouble and it may be different for the other two that are entering teenage years.

[Anonymous]

We do, and it's fine. You will want to have wired networking, if possible. Wi-fi adds latency, which is a big deal for gamers, and can have packet loss.

[Anonymous]

My DS uses his PC in his bedroom. No problems. We trust him, and check up on him time to time. Plays with his friends and does homework throughout the day, and sleeps no problem at night with devices shut off. Mainly because he knows our room is right next to his, and we would see the screen light. Lol.