Young parents of
newborns are leaving hospitals in many of our communities
with free "Baby Einstein" videos along with the
traditional samples of diapers and baby oil. Some of the
videos in the series are recommended for infants "from
birth and up." The lure of the product appeals to the
hopes of every new parent who wants her baby to get a jumpstart
on achievement. That sounds nice, but there's an implied
threat here too: if you deprive your little one of this
wonderful product you will relegate him to a lifetime of
stupidity. Who wouldn't want to avoid taking that risk?
No one says any of this out loud, of course, but the subtext
is unmistakable.
Unfortunately, the promise of Baby Einstein is not backed
up by one shred of evidence. I have yet to see any science
that shows plopping an infant in front of a screen can replace,
let alone expand, the benefits of human interaction between
a parent and her child. The line of products for babies
is, however, backed up by one of the world's most powerful
marketing machines, the Disney Company. The smartest thing
about the videos is its name. Baby Einstein delivers an
oblique promise that is extremely enticing. After all, who
wouldn't want their kids to be brilliant?
So what's my beef with Baby Einstein? Very simply put, it
gets kids hooked on screens before they can even crawl.
There's nothing wrong with the colorful and child-friendly
content. The problem is that the videos wire the growing
brain to expect constant entertainment and to always look
to the screen for everything good in life.
The results are scary. Twenty-five percent of babies under
two now have screens in their nurseries. The current forty-four
hours of weekly screen time for school age kids is sure
to soar when the current crop of Baby Einstein junkies enter
kindergarten. Why worry about that? Increased screen time
is one of the causes of childhood obesity, attention problems,
video game addiction, poor reading scores, impaired social
skills, and aggression, just to name a few of the media-related
issues we face every day.
It is tempting for harried young parents to turn to Baby
Einstein to occupy a fussy baby. While I don't know of a
single child harmed by Baby Einstein, I can think of legions
who are harmed by a constant addiction to screens. I think
we should heed the words of the real Albert Einstein. He
said, "If you want brilliant children read them fairy
tales. More brilliant read them more fairy tales."
Now that's good advice.
David Walsh, Ph.D. is the founder of the
MediaWise Movement, a program of the National Institute
on Media and the Family (www.mediafamily.org).
His latest book is Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival
Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen is a
national best seller.
Our
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