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How to Lock Out Your TV
Elsewhere on this site I mention locking out the TV, and several people have asked me how to do that, so here goes. Basically, most TVs purchased within the past 15 years have the lockout feature. Find the instruction booklet for your TV and find out how yours works-- usually, it's done through the "menu" feature on your remote. Usually you can choose to lock out "all" or just certain channels, or shows with certain ratings, etc. I've found it's easiest to just "lock all" rather than pick and choose-- my reason for using it is to stop all TV watching when necessary, not just certain shows or channels. Then when it's time to unlock, you just point, click, and enter your password/code. I know that some parents think this is overly controlling, but they may not have the battles we used to go through with the TV, and this has eliminated them. Our kids would come home from school and, because I'd be busy getting dinner ready or working on a project, they'd plop down in front of the TV, getting far too comfortable before ever starting their homework. Of course I'd say no and turn off the TV, but then they'd whine and beg for "only 10 minutes more" or they'd turn it back on again while I was standing next to it and a full-blown disciplinary battle would rage. Simply remembering to lock it out before they get home from school is wonderful. They turn on the TV, realize it's locked, maybe whimper a little, but the battle stops before it begins because they know once it's locked, I won't punch in the code until they get their homework done, or piano practicing, or chores, or... I can get really creative with it.
Posted by Uncool Mom at 12/28/2008 10:06 AM 
Categories: Kids and TV
Tags: locking out the TV TV lock TV parental controls V chip
Categories: Kids and TV
Tags: locking out the TV TV lock TV parental controls V chip
I have been looking for a product to completely lock out the TV so the kids won't have access or means to turn it on.... so far have not found any... The cable companies only allow you to lock the TV channels by ratings...
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Yes, our last two cable companies had the ratings lock...but they also have an "all lock" feature that saves time and just locks everything out-- does yours not have that? I think an old TV of ours has a "ratings only" feature but I think if we set it to lock out Rated G and above, that pretty much locks out everything..except maybe news channels, and I figured if they can only watch those (which I doubt they would) it would probably be good for them! On another TV, my husband has hidden the "connecting" piece that goes between the cable coming out of the wall and the TV's cable cord. That worked for awhile-- then the other day we discovered our oldest had taped the two cords together and made it work! Another roadblock to this whole "locking out" quest is Tivo-- once we got that, any pre-recorded shows aren't affected by the usual TV locks...and our kids pre-record a lot of stuff...
Please let me know if you find a product that works! I need to update my post, as well as implement a better solution for my family. It's so great when the TV lock-out works well. At least the new Windows has helped us when we need to lock out or put time limits on our computer. Thanks for writing!
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I have not found a good solution to lock a TV down with a passcode. Early V-chip TVs have something close, but not perfect: you need to manually enter a passcode every time you finish watching TV so next time if the kids try to turn it on, it won't turn on unless a passcode is entered.
The cable companies will allow you to lock down all programs with ratings G and up, that's true.... but that means you have to enter a passcode every time you change channel, unless you remove the block first..... So, no perfect lock-down solution for now unless some TV manufacturer comes up with a good solution. I have seen something attached to power cords with time-management functions, but it's cumbersome.
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