Childhood Accidents From Improper TV Set-up/Installation

[Fors*]

As a parent and HT enthusiast, I found this article intersting and somewhat naive on the subject matter. Its from MSNBC and about the increasing rate of childhood accidents with poorly set up TV's and stands.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30686493/

What I don't agree with is the statement of "Americans have fallen in love with flat-panel displays, which often pack as much as a hundred pounds of circuitry and glass into a panel only a few inches thick."

If anything, TV's are becoming lighter if you ask me.

However, the TV is not a babysitter either......

[Steve]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

As a parent and HT enthusiast, I found this article intersting and somewhat naive on the subject matter. Its from MSNBC and about the increasing rate of childhood accidents with poorly set up TV's and stands.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30686493/

What I don't agree with is the statement of "Americans have fallen in love with flat-panel displays, which often pack as much as a hundred pounds of circuitry and glass into a panel only a few inches thick."

If anything, TV's are becoming lighter if you ask me.

However, the TV is not a babysitter either......

Good point there.

I know LCDs are continually getting lighter, but plasmas still use glass screens. So are they seeing much weight reduction?

[phlydude]

my parents had a 19" Philco on milk crates with a tablecloth on it in their bedroom when I was a kid (tv carts were the norm and my dad was (and still is) cheap) - I pulled on the tablecloth and the TV fell on me...

I wasn't hurt - a little bruised but my dad smacked me for being rough and for bending the antenna...I shouldn't have been horsing around apparently...

If parents let their children be unsupervised, expect the worst and pray for the best.

The problem with the tvs now is that the 80-100 lbs. is concentrated on 4-6 inches of depth...on the old sets, it was spread out over the entire cabinet built to contain the picture tube.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by fireman325

Good point there.

I know LCDs are continually getting lighter, but plasmas still use glass screens. So are they seeing much weight reduction?

That is a good question. My generalization is based on what I know of LCD's and the fact that it seems TV's are becoming thinner and thinner, thus there is a pretty good probability that they would weigh less too?

[Grevlin]

Since I only have CAF (Cat Acceptance Factor) and he always agrees with me, I don't really have to consider children running around. I know in my old place, my wall mount for my LCD was mounted so secure it was actually hard to uninstall it when I moved out!

I do think that if you just have an LCD sitting on a console it can tip fairly easily.

On the other side, I have noticed LCD's weigh like half of what they did just a year or two ago...

[StimpsonJCat]

My TV is very heavy, but if a kid can get it off the wall he needs to work at the Daily Planet. I do think there is a valid concern with heavy flat panels sitting on a cabinet.

Speakers might be an issue though. I know when we have kids (which might be soon) we will secure a lot of stuff around the house. An example would be anchoring the bookshelves to the wall.

[repete66211]

"Things that could kill your child. More at 11." Typical yellow journalism. Yes parents, gravity works. I'm sorry the kid died, but we're talking about a 27" TV here. And a 4 year old. Common sense has saved more lives than penicillin.

[SlmShdy1]

Most bigger flat panels, if you're not going to use a wall mount, come with mounting screws to secure it to a stand. I never thought of kids being an issue, but always thought they would come in handy during an earthquake (I live in California). There are preventative measures that can be taken for such an occasion. The parents just have to implement them. It's not the TV's fault.

[jc480]

I saw that commercial where the 2 young guys are playing baseball on Wii. And the one guy throws a ball at the HDTV busting it up.

I am getting ready to hang a 60" Kuro and I keep having these terrifying thoughts of my kid throwing something at the TV and breaking the panel.

I've also had fantasies about installing bullet proof plexa-glass in front of this TV and have mentally calculated the visual distortion....yes...I am going insane

These TVs are freaking expensive. Whereas with kids, bones heal. Broke panels are forevah!

[liquidice]

my 5 year old has been trained since day one not to touch my tv. I will let her have full control over my Harmony One whenever she wants, but hands must be clean! A couple times when her cousins would come over, some a little younger than her, and I'd be at work, I would come home to find a few finger prints on my screen, which burns me up!!! The glass on my plasma has become the most precious thing in my house, and I'm OCD about keeping it clean. Anyways, other than that, the temptation to try and tip the tv over on herself doesn't exist, and I other people on here with children are probably like me, and don't leave their kids in the same room as their theater alone for very long. A poorly mounted wall mount could be a whole other topic, but if we are doing it ourselves, not professionally, I think we are researching how to do it the proper way.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by repete66211

"Things that could kill your child. More at 11." Typical yellow journalism. Yes parents, gravity works. I'm sorry the kid died, but we're talking about a 27" TV here. And a 4 year old. Common sense has saved more lives than penicillin.

Totaly agree with you, typical journalism trying to find new ways to scare the general public. What happen to journalists like Walter Kronkite anyway? Parents now a days seem to think kids are nothing more then a decoration, "everyone is having them, let's have one too, look's cool" Instead of blaming everything and everyone, most parents should try looking at what they are doing and try taking care of their kids instead of spending 3 hours on the phone or texting making goosips about stupid things.

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Totaly agree with you, typical journalism trying to find new ways to scare the general public. What happen to journalists like Walter Kronkite anyway? Parents now a days seem to think kids are nothing more then a decoration, "everyone is having them, let's have one too, look's cool" Instead of blaming everything and everyone, most parents should try looking at what they are doing and try taking care of their kids instead of spending 3 hours on the phone or texting making goosips about stupid things.

....or spending an un-godly amount of time on website forums talking about their crazy passions and inventions and interests!

[DarkDune]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

As a parent and HT enthusiast, I found this article intersting and somewhat naive on the subject matter. If anything, TV's are becoming lighter if you ask me.

I solved this issue with a trip to our local Babies R Us. Feel free to check out my HT photos

Only thing we had to do otherwise was remove the "Master Volume" dial from our THX Receiver. Toddlers will do more damage scaring the CR@P out of you when they turn the dial from -36dB to something like +dB's

[Another_Dude]

If I see little chocolate handprints on my Da-Lite screen or projector you better believe there will be a childhood accident in my house.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Its from MSNBC ..

Thanks for including that part..... no need for me to read further

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by DarkDune

I solved this issue with a trip to our local Babies R Us. Feel free to check out my HT photos

Only thing we had to do otherwise was remove the "Master Volume" dial from our THX Receiver. Toddlers will do more damage scaring the CR@P out of you when they turn the dial from -36dB to something like +dB's

No doubt that works, but speaking for myself, I like a clean look, as aesthetics are very important to me. Do you find yourself moving that out of the way often to get into your equipment, especially if you need to load a blu in your player?

I have a 4 yr old and a 2 month old, and my 4 yr old learned the hard way about not touching the TV, but she learned.

EDIT: LOL Beta Man, I know how some feel about MSNBC, so I made sure to disclose that!

[DarkDune]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

No doubt that works, but speaking for myself, I like a clean look, as aesthetics are very important to me. Do you find yourself moving that out of the way often to get into your equipment, especially if you need to load a blu in your player?

We did go for safety over aesthetics for now...guess the tike really is more important to me than how stuff looks

If you look closely, it has a door in the middle that works kinda like those child doors you can install at the top and bottom of stairs. Also, since it has bars, our son has no issue reaching in and turning dials, but no interest in pulling on the TV stand itself which is what concerned me. This has been there his whole life, and he is almost four now. We try to keep anything that interests him away from the space behind the bars. He likes to sit or lie on the couch too. I always change movies, etc for him so he doesn't have an urge to do it himself too.

If you want, I can look up the manufacturer...we got it some 3 years ago...

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by DarkDune

We did go for safety over aesthetics for now...guess the tike really is more important to me than how stuff looks

If you look closely, it has a door in the middle that works kinda like those child doors you can install at the top and bottom of stairs. Also, since it has bars, our son has no issue reaching in and turning dials, but no interest in pulling on the TV stand itself which is what concerned me. This has been there his whole life, and he is almost four now. We try to keep anything that interests him away from the space behind the bars. He likes to sit or lie on the couch too. I always change movies, etc for him so he doesn't have an urge to do it himself too.

If you want, I can look up the manufacturer...we got it some 3 years ago...

Thanks, but I ended up teaching my daughter to never touch anything in that area (I could see her hand prints on the TV when I got home from work). Now, if she goes to get a ball and I'm in the room, she will look back to make sure it is OK. No accidents happened thankfully (the TV stand is metal and very sturdy), but she did eventually learn....the hard way if you know what I mean......

[vega2K]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Thanks, but I ended up teaching my daughter to never touch anything in that area (I could see her hand prints on the TV when I got home from work). Now, if she goes to get a ball and I'm in the room, she will look back to make sure it is OK. No accidents happened thankfully (the TV stand is metal and very sturdy), but she did eventually learn....the hard way if you know what I mean......

A few weeks ago, I found a hand print from one of my 7 year olds on my 60" Plasma! I nearly crucified him and nearly damaged his ear drums and my vocal chords! They are otherwise very well trained not to touch my gear and except for this isolated incident, I never had problems. But this goes to show you that with kids, sh!t happens!

[Zman2k2]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones with my daughter. She never really showed much of an interest in playing with anything on the HT stand. Sure, I get some fingerprints on the LCD every now and then, but I just wipe them off. I just think that with kids, you show them how things work, and they won't go and play with buttons and knobs on their own. Hell, even now, my daughter is 5 and can use the HT to watch her kid shows all she wants. She knows how to use the Harmony remote, change channels, adjust volume, etc. I just showed her how things work, and helped her learn. She has a respect for my stuff now, and she doesn't purposely mess it up on me.