If you are a parent of young children, it is inevitable that your kids will at some point become fascinated with the family television set. It usually starts when your baby begins to crawl and pull him or herself up-- the buttons on the television can be quite fascinating to little hands! But heavy television sets can also pose a danger to your young children. Here are some tips to protect your TV’s from your kids (and vice versa):
-- Keep the television out of your child’s reach. Televisions pose a safety hazard to young children-- the newer light weight TV’s can easily be pulled down or knocked over by curious little hands. Consider anchoring your television to the wall-- you may not like how it looks, but it is a great precautionary measure that you can take to protect both your television and your child. Another option is to mount your television up and out of the way and onto a shelf. Heavy duty television shelves can be purchased at most electronics super stores. Avoid putting your television on lightweight carts or low tables. Keeping the television out of your child’s reach is the number one way to protect your set (and your child).
-- If you have a plasma TV, hang it on the wall. The new plasma and LCD televisions offer a great way to keep your set out of harm’s way. These ultra thin sets are designed to hang right on the wall-- just like a picture. As long as you are able to hand it high enough, your kids won’t be able to reach it. Keep in mind that, although plasma TV professional installation is fairly expensive, it is worth the extra cost if you have young children in your home. If you want to protect your plasma TV investment, wall mounting is the way to go.
-- Hide the cords. If you have a VCR, DVD player and cable box hooked up to your television, chances are you have a bunch of cords attached to your TV. Don’t tempt your child to play with that tangled mess of cords and risk the chance of the TV toppling over. Instead, make sure to conceal the cords securely behind the television. Electronics stores sell devices designed to hide and organize those dangerous and unsightly cords.
-- Plastic TV Protectors. If your child enjoys pushing the buttons on the front of your TV, invest in a transparent guard for your set. The premise is simple-- the guard is a clear plastic device that slides underneath your TV. Another plastic piece shields the control buttons that are at the bottom of your set. Of course, as your toddler gets older he or she will figure out how to remove the plastic shield, but usually over time your child will lose interest in playing with it anyway. In any event, this is a good short term solution to protect a television that is within a child’s reach.
Finally, although you may be eyeing that high dollar flat screen or plasma television, consider holding off on such a major purchase until your children get a little older. Children have been known to hurl toys or blocks at TV screens and an incident like that could really damage an expensive model. In some instances, it may be better just to wait it out.
