The great baby Einstein Scam

Hi friends...

Can we really make kids smart by videos or games? And by the way...."Your baby can read"....what about it?

The great Baby Einstein scam - Parenting on Shine

Courtesy by yahoo....

Of course it was too good to be true.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Disney is offering a refund to buyers of its ubiquitous “Baby Einstein” videos, which did not, as promised, turn babies into wunderkinds. Apparently, all those puppets, bright colors, and songs were what we had feared all along—a mind-numbing way to occupy infants.
This news has rocked the parenting world, which had embraced the videos as a miraculous child-rearing staple. Videos that make your kid smarter while you prepare dinner? Genius!

Or not. According to the article, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two years old stay away from watching screens. In the letter threatening Disney with a class-action lawsuit for "deceptive advertising," public health lawyers hired by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood cited a study which found a link between early television exposure and later problems with attention span.
For many parents, this was the most unsettling of "duh" moments, and a confirmation that nothing, when it comes to child-rearing, is as ever easy as we'd like to make it. So why were we so quick to seize on Baby Einstein videos as technological tutors?
Call it the perfect storm of parenting. Who doesn’t want to believe that there is a magical, wondrous, no-parental-guidance-required product that will turn their kids into Mensa members? The combination of our lack of time, our paranoia over our kids performance, and our faith in technology primed this generation of parents to accept the clever advertising around "Baby Einstein" as truth, just as parents before us have seized on corporal punishment, or the teachings of Dr. Spock.
Still, the idea that a caper this big could be pulled off (according to the Times, in “a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one 'Baby Einstein' video") is mind-boggling. Disney’s refund is about as close as we’re going to get to an actual admission that we were sold snake oil, and it casts a pall over the other "educational" toys out there.
So now what? Lose the Leapfrog? Whisk away the Wii? How do you plan on keeping (or cutting out) technology in your child's life?

Hmmm, I always found the Einstein tag very pretentious. I wonder where I read this quote "Einstein did not use Flash cards". This entire idea that Einstein is the only person to emulate is so downright disturbing to me. Why not just look at it straight as a tool to keep the baby "busy" when you had something else to do. Frankly, I do use youtube videos of our favorite music as a bribe when DS gets a little testy or when I am on a deadline and DS absolutely must play with me. Why not still use it as a distraction, but limit it 30 min or whatever is acceptable to your family. There is only one thing that will superbrain your baby, a feeling of being wanted and loved. Emotional security is the best motivator to learn, IMO.

Originally Posted by Amicable

So now what? Lose the Leapfrog? Whisk away the Wii? How do you plan on keeping (or cutting out) technology in your child's life?

We'll just carry on doing what we've always done so far - minimal or no TV (definitely well under 30 mins/day), no videos (educational or otherwise) and some computer time (roughly 60-90 mins a week). I'm always there when DS is watching TV or the computer and we try to talk about what we see/do. As he gets older I know I'll have to up the TV time a bit but I'm hoping that there will always be other things he finds more interesting and worth his time/effort.

Vanathi.

PS - I did try flashcards and abandoned them within a week - they were the ultimate in boredom.

There was nothing "educational" in Baby Einstein...other than just some music and colorful puppets dancing to it. Perhaps you could call it a good babysitter, but nothing more than that. I think many people would have been misled by the catchy titles..Baby Einstein, Baby Mozart, Baby Galileo etc...So its a good thing that Disney has been forced to do this...

That apart, I would not categorize everything as good-for-nothing. There are good DVDs and other programs out there, but nothing would work unless the parent sits with the baby and they both watch it together. As krithika said, love and affection would be the prime motivating factor for kids.