Parents can watch what they choose after the children are tucked in. Some toys are best kept in a child's room. If younger siblings would spoil an expensive toy, then it shouldn't be in a family area, and keeping it safe in a bedroom is fine. Still, there are merits in learning to play together, talk together, even argue together. When you permit a child's room to become the center of his universe, you are abandoning opportunities for your input, and you are declining to give a child the fullest benefit of your knowledge and experience.
Family life is more than what can be learned from a television, a computer, or a telephone.
So talk about affluenza this week. Decide what activities are best in a child's room and which ones are fun to have in a family area. End the separation, end the silence, end the loneliness with more occasions for being together in enjoyable and educational ways.