Experts reveal link between sex, drugs and bedroom TVs

TEENAGERS with a television set in their bedroom are more likely to take drugs, binge drink, smoke cigarettes and have sex, a new study has revealed.

TV sets serving the role of a "babysitter" also contributed to such behaviour, the study of more than 1,000 teenagers also revealed, due to reduced interaction between parent and child.

Parents of teenagers with TV sets in their rooms were also less likely to know where their child spent their after-school hours, and with whom.

More than half of the teenagers aged between 12 and 16 told researchers at the University of California that they had a TV set in their bedroom, and were found to watch more television than peers without a set.

In Britain, 52 per cent of teenagers have a set in their room, a figure that is rising.

Cary Cooper, a professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University, said: "There may be a relationship between the television and this sort of behaviour, but it is not TV itself that causes it. TV is a passive medium, I’d be more worried about children playing interactive, violent video games.

"The question you need to ask is who is the kind of child that has a television in their room and watches it constantly? It would tend to be a child that is withdrawn, has difficulty with relationships, gets depressed, then smokes and possibly takes some mild drugs.

"Television is unlikely to stimulate any of these dispositions, unless the child already has the disposition to a certain degree. It is unlikely to be the cause of the anger in the first place."

Professor Alex Gardner, a clinical psychologist in Glasgow, confirmed that while children will tend to watch things that adults do not want them to, TV’s isolative effects are a greater danger.

"The worry is why the child is not outside socialising with friends. But different kids will have different experiences. The village kid, for example, might have less options of something to do than the town kid," he said.