[cord]

I assume at least a few of the people in here have young children at home, and most of you have RPTVs of one sort or another, so this seems to be the right place for this question! I'm about to buy a small-ish RPTV (43 or 46, probably), and I'm worried about having it damaged by the kid(s). I currently have a 36" CRT, and I can't keep my friends' doggone kid from touching the screen all the time. Sometimes he'll even whack it with a toy, when nobody's looking. Having done some "tactile examination" of RPTV screens, it doesn't seem like they'd handle it nearly as well as the unbelievably thick glass of a large CRT can. How do you keep kids away from your TV, and/or am I worrying too much? I keep trying to talk my friends into using a shock collar on the little monster, but they keep nattering about "child abuse" for some reason.


[[ Before you get the wrong idea, I really do love kids in general, and this one in particular...I just want him to leave my TV alone! ]]

 

[Cliff Olson]

Hey cord, I love kids too!


I have small scratches all over my screen, and when my 3 year old daughter was younger, she would get a running start and barrel right into the screen (slamming her hands against it)! THAT used to kill me, but what can we do? Luckily it only happened a few times, and now she's old enough to know better. At least there are only very slight scratches on the anti-glare screen (which is replaceable). Both my daughters still touch the screen when pointing something out. Fingerprints are easy to remove though

 

[Monstermile]

I set up a 24" with DVD player and their PS1 in another room. That way they won't be near my RPTV unless we are all watching a movie. They have also been threatened with bodily harm if they get within 10" feet of it when I get it. Of course my kids are 11 and 7 so I'm not really worried except when they get playing a little wild.

 

[cord]

Unfortunately, Gabriel's only 3 years old, and he's in the "everything's a hammer" stage. :| I'm planning to buy an LCD or DLP set, so it'll be very light and up on a stand. Since 3 year-olds still have Magic Baby Arms(tm), pushing it to the back of the stand won't help much. His mom's pregnant again too, so about the time Gabe starts to understand threats of physical violence, there'll be another toddler running around.

 

[murph3699]

I have a 3 yr old and a 7 yr old and they have been trained since day one (day one being five years ago when I found the woofers in my old Sony towers pushed in) to stay away from Dad's HT stuff. Occasionally I find some fingerprints or smudges on the RPTV but they would never hit the TV with anything. My friend's children have never done anything to harm my equipment but I would definitely hold my friends responsible for their kid's behavior. Its too bad that you even have to worry like that because it takes away from the enjoyment of having friends visit.

 

[SethGarfinkel]

Yup... My 2 yr old attacks the TV on a daily basis. I am probably going to wait a little while longer, then get one of those handy new 6" thick DLPs to hang on the wall, out of his reach. I would go for a Plasma, but I just am not a big fan of them.

 

[profjoe]

There is not much you can do for a full-blown *whack* on the screen, but to avoid scratches, I was thinking a thin piece of flexible, clear PVC might make a good "scratch protector" (much like the screen protectors on PDAs).

 

[Poncho]

My 16 month-old should be a product tester. She pushes every button on the system. TV on, TV off, TV on, TV off, TV on.... Turn up the volume all the way and run away screaming. No solution yet, but to find something else for her to do.

 

[cord]

I'm thinking I might put up one of those baby fence things (link below) when Gabe's around, to keep him away from the gadgetronics.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...391667-8877536

 

[injaneer]

Yes I found chalk on My Screen yesterday from my 2 1/2 year old. I have thought about building a partial wall in front of the TV. Saw a picture of someone who had done that.


chris

 

[EchoOfGecko]

Also, don't forget to keep your RPTV from damaging your kids as well. Make sure that thing is secured to the wall some how, especially if it's a tabletop model.

 

[mrkaos]

Sell the kids on ebay and get a larger screen with the money you make.


- JB


just kidding of course

 

[AcuraCL]

Quote:

Originally posted by mrkaos Sell the kids on ebay and get a larger screen with the money you make. - JB just kidding of course

I was thinking of those "invisible fence" things? ... put a collar on the kid, and set the fence part a couple of feet from the screen ...


No wait, they work on ultrasound, don't they? ...


Never mind ....

 

[Kpt_Krunch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Poncho My 16 month-old should be a product tester. She pushes every button on the system. TV on, TV off, TV on, TV off, TV on.... Turn up the volume all the way and run away screaming. No solution yet, but to find something else for her to do.

My 18 month old does the same thing - only with the remote controls. My fav is when he changes the input and you get very loud white noise and a white screen - I think he has nightmares about that.


Currently, we have our play pen in the HT room, so whenever he is down there with us, he is in the 'pen'. If I do let him run loose, I am right with him, and as soon as he gets near my equipment, I tell him "No" and/or "Stop" and turn him away. Kinda like how I trained my dog, except my dog learned a lot quicker (maybe out of fear, who knows?). As well, with the HT room downstairs, he can't get there (yet) unless I let him.


Once he is older, and he can understand things better - I will tell him that everything he damages will be replaced with the money that is in is Education fund and Trust accounts - so if he wants to be destructive, he will end up going to community college at best. However, if he hates school, he just may burn the house down

 

[cord]

I'm thinking that the best option is to just use the fence, as I mentioned above. Basically, it'd mean putting the TV in the playpen and letting the kid run loose, as is his wont.

 

[moeronn]

Here are a couple of possible solutions to your problem.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...84#post2759184

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...75#post2763775


It all depends on the size/reach/agility/maliciousness of the kid(s) you have to deal with. Good luck.

 

[cord]

Thanks for the pics, Moe. That wall's a nice idea!