Are Baby DVDs Educational? -- Looks Like Disney's Backed Down on the Debate
In response to criticism for advertising their Baby Einstein DVDs as educational, Disney is offering an exchange or cash back to any customer who purchased a Baby Einstein DVD between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009. Disney's usual customer satisfaction guarantee has been upgraded for a limited time after the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an organization that has been calling attention to Disney's advertising of the DVDs for years, threatened a class-action lawsuit. If you would like to exchange or return a Baby Einstein DVD, visit the Baby Einstein website for the proper form and information.
Disney's program to upgrade or return the DVDs has brought new attention to the baby DVD debate, as it seems to some that Disney is admitting that the DVDs are not educational. Disney is not alone, though, in touting "educational" DVDs for babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics counsels parents not to allow babies under two to watch TV at all, yet the baby DVD business is booming, and many of the companies that make baby DVDs claim that the DVDs are educational. Is watching TV really dangerous to babies? Can it ever be educational? Is it ever okay to let a baby watch TV? Share your ideas/opinions using the "comments" link below.
We got a Baby Einstein DVD that taught the words for things around the house (everything from table to cat to bed) in sign language. I’m sorry, but if that’s not educational, I don’t know what is.
Hilarious! These parents that only see the world as black and white are really what’s wrong with this country. These are the same kind of parents that walk into a grocery store and start nibbling on organic veggies and fruits (stealing) before purchasing because they think they must be clean… because they’re organic.
My guess is that many of these parents are rather new parents and have recently been caught up in the somewhat controversial backlash on TV. This is old news to most of us here. It is unfortunate that the ill informed parents of the world (new or experienced assume the worst in parents out there especially living in Seattle, the center of the universe of parents that think TV is evil for children. Baby Einstien is yucky, bad for your children and could make you vomit isn’t that far off from what many parents think. Passive entertainment, rote memorization of facts and information with no constructive meaning behind it is what entails many of the early learning children’s products out there. Addressing multiple intelligences in a format that is more organic (the 5 senses for ei), since that is how all children learn are just some of the many ways children can learn just as TV is one tool out of many to demonstrate types of learning. Most parents with good common sense have spent an good amount of parent-child time together, they play outside more then they probably should, they’re very active in sports and love reading and are very productive little human beings with play-based centric parents… and yes am talking about my 9 year old twins who have had their share of down yet active time engaged in assesing appropriate moving images and sound design on an pictue/sound display unit(TV) all under the age of 2 years. Are they brain dead now… god no! At the very least they are creative critical thinkers that have been lucky enough to have parents who handled the TV tool in appropriate ways. Not much Baby Einstein, and def not Brainy Baby… yes on those Braincandy videos which are awesome and very active and yes on simple narrative animal and other movies. Half the time we would sit down and talk with them during the entire 1/2 to 1 hour viewing. Now talk about learning opportunities… wow! All parents can get breakthrough leaning opportunities if they actually sit down and assess the picture units with the children… but of course you have to be an open minded parent unlike the nose lifters out there. I suppose that is the core of the problem right there… passive v. active. Most of TV is made to be passive entertainment. That’s why parents turn on and tune out at the end of the day because they know there will be copious amounts of programming to inject themselves with to get to that very state of mind. I think this is why i really liked those Brain Candy videos, just so different then the passive Baby Eintstein videos. I remember seeing my toddler’s brain churning when watching those videos. Regardless all this banter gets me thinking about balance and what entails good parenting. Too much TV is a bad thing (vidiot or fatso), too much reading is a bad thing (social misfit or fatso), too much time outside is a bad thing (banshee, hoodlum), too much McDonalds fast food is a bad thing (just fatso). I know children that live down the street that rarely received sweets at a young age and are now addicted to anything sugar. I remember college roomates that were never exposed to TV thru adolescence and to this day have a hard time controlling their TV time.
So please don’t assume the worst in parents thinking you know best. It could possibly be a missed opportunity for another new way of strengthening your child’s critical thinking skills. But of course you have to know the facts first… right? No goofball in a lab coat is going to tell me they know my child better then i do.
MEGA DISNEY FINALLY NOW DOING RIGHT THING!
The Disney refund story is incredible positive news in the world of children, parents, and media/technology, etc. It has huge implications for child development and family life and the evolving relationships of kids and families with media companies in popular culture. It is a BIG BIG story!. I am a child psychiatrist and expert in this field and in the process of publishing a book – Kids, Parents, and Technology: An Instruction Manual for Young Families — ETA 1 month or so — I applaud those who fought so hard and even Disney
EITAN D SCHWARZ MD FAACAP DLFAPA
http://www.mydigitalfamly.org
We have several Baby Einstein videos. When my daughter was young I would put one on and then sit next to her. I would name the animals or pictures. It would be our time for learning. And yes, I believe it did teach her a lot of things from the names of most animals to counting to 5. If you allow TV to babysit your kids then it is bad. But using Einstein as a teaching program when you are stuck in the house during long cold winters is a great idea.