I can barely talk, but I did grow this funky-looking hair
and cool moustache...and I'm a girl!"
Posted on 08/08/2007 9:40:14 AM PDT by mngran
It turns out that popular baby videos don't create geniuses, and may even hinder development.
University of Washington researchers warned in a report released Tuesday that Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby and other videos for infants may make a child slower in picking up vocabulary in the first two years of life.
Every hour babies spent watching videos, they understood an average of six to eight fewer words than a baby who didn't watch the programs, researchers found.
Babies who watched the videos scored 17 percent worse on language-skills assessments than babies who didn't, said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, co-author of the study.
"We don't think there is any evidence that it is good for development at all," said Andrew Meltzoff, another co-author of the study.
The hindering of development wasn't even. Overuse of baby videos may slow the growth of vocabulary among babies 8 months to 16 months old, but didn't have an effect on children from 17 months to 24 months.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
LOL!
Oh I don’t think a blanket assement like that is accurate. Sure creating a couch potato is not in the best interest of a child, but engaging them in interactive TV in moderation is not such a bad thing. Every day, nope. Once in a while, not a problem. Funny thing, my 3 year old avoids the TV. He would rather do other things.
Oh I don’t think a blanket assement like that is accurate. Sure creating a couch potato is not in the best interest of a child, but engaging them in interactive TV in moderation is not such a bad thing. Every day, nope. Once in a while, not a problem. Funny thing, my 3 year old avoids the TV. He would rather do other things. My 1 year old hasn’t been exposed to any DVD’s, and tv is just a distraction to her other interests.
Correlation ain’t causation.
More likely, the types of parents that think they can abdicate child-rearing to a DVD raise slower kids.
Or, stupidity being a heritable trait, stupid parents tend to buy DVDs to teach the kids (perhaps honorably knowing their own teaching limitations) and their kids are genitically slower.
So the videos may indeed may make the kids better off than they would have been.
The TV of my grandson is severely restricted but he seems to like the Mozart Baby Einstein.
It was learned that for reasons totally unknown and certainly not understood, when placed in his blue chair in with Baby Einstein on, within only a few minutes, he relieved himself of a big poop.
My guess is that a baby who is held by her parents while the parent interacts with the video will reap some benefit from the experience. But a baby has not developed to the point that she can be placed by herself in front of a video and get anything out of it. It is a noise making box and that is it. She might gain something from any music on the video. She might be drawn to picture flashes. But sooner or later she will learn to zone out. The participating parent could make a huge difference because then she is taught how to take in the information from and interact with the video. Next time she hears it she will remember what she learned. It will start as imitation.
If the parents are lazy or “strong silent types” who say few words even to their babies/toddlers, and there are not siblings, then maybe a little TV is necessary to expose the kids to language.
If the parents are good parents who converse with their kids constantly, then TV will simply mean less parent time.
I’ve never been a big believer in the whole “set your kid in front of the TV and turn him into a genius” thing. At the same time, I still question this “study”, at least to a degree. I don’t really believe that it’s the videos alone which are responsible for these results.
I have a six year old who watched these as a child and he speaks and reads like a child several years his senior. If the videos have a negative effect on kids, he is definitely an exception. At the same time, he has two younger brothers who also watched the videos (though less of them) and they seem to be progressing normally in their language abilities as well.
But here’s the thing. My wife and I did NOT use the vids as electronic baby sitters. We would sit there with the kids and talk to them about what as on the screen. “Look at the green frog. See the red dog jump.” That sort of thing.
My wife made the comment when we first saw the report about this that if kids were suffering because of the videos it was probably because the parents were dropping their kids in front of the TV for hours and not interacting. I’ve certainly been guilty of letting them watch for half an hour or so unattended while I picked up the house, but no matter what you do, if you ignore a child for hours on end, they will develop much more slowly than a child who is nurtured and loved.
Hah! What scam those videos were. $20 for a half-hour video of a baby sitting in front of toys to music.
I could have told them that. How much did this study cost them? It should be obvious that babies interact with other people and thus learn everything.
The baby is not stupid. The baby knows that the TV is nothing. Even my cat knows the difference between cat food on TV and real cat food.
My son is now 19. From the time he was 9 months old, he would sit and watch a Kid’s Sing Along Video. They had a whole series of them back them. It had to be a music video (with live people, not cartoon figures) to keep his attention, but he loved them. (I’m not sure what the Baby Einstein series is because I’m not familiar with them.)
Anyhoo, he still loves music, took piano lessons, and continued with them until this year, also took up other instruments (he didn’t choose music as his vocation, however, just for enjoyment.) His math skills were always above average, and I think I’ve read there’s some link between music and math.
But my point is, did he like the music videos because it was part of his natural tendancy, or did the music video spur an interest in the music? I don’t know. But I see nothing wrong with letting kids watch the right kind of videos. I think they offer things that the child might not get in interaction with the parents. However, interaction with the parents is the most important thing.
The Baby Einsteins are okay, but I have even caught myself “zoning out” while we were watching them.
Right now our little one is into the Wiggles and that’s not so bad because he loves to try and jump around and “dance” with the songs.
From what I've seen of Baby Einstein, it isn't "interactive" at all. Quite the opposite, actually - it's all about passive observation. I wouldn't let my son watch them even if he was interested.
The closest to "interactive" that television can get (that is to say, not very) is Sesame Street, with sing-a-longs and the like. But unless the Baby Einsteins I've watched are somehow anamolous, the line doesn't qualify.
My parents said that I learned my numbers from stock reports on tv. I certainly didn’t learn stock tips from it.
My now 7 year-old son was reacted to those DVD’s as a tot...boredom. He liked building with blocks, playing with trucks, painting pictures and reading books.
I didn’t even show my now 4 year-old the DVD’s.
My child must be the exception. She watched many of those videos as an infant. By 17 months she knew all letters of the alphabet including their phonetic sounds after watching Leapfrog’s Letter Factory many times. I highly recommend that video. Her vocabulary is not limited either. Of course she insists we read to her every single night.
These shows ingrained in me an interest in space, science, wildlife, and adventure that I still enjoy today. The right exposure, to the right topics, in the right amount can have a significant impression on kids. That is why we must protect our young children from porno and violent shows, mags, and songs, to give them a chance to grow and think without a perverted view of life and social interactions.
I watch the new shows with my boys now, The History channel, Discover, animal planet ect. They both have an interest in all these things and more due to our parental prodding, and can pick out the sick and twisted elements of our culture and reject them for what they are.
They still are game addicts but that time is earned and portioned out sparingly.
My kids will be raised on Bugs Bunny and Road Runner just like I was
Yes, but it was also learned that parents of babies who watched these videos were 50% happier and got 90% more work done than if they didn't put the videos on.
Yes, but it was also learned that parents of babies who watched these videos were 50% happier and got 90% more work done than if they didn't put the videos on.
The Wiggles Must Die!
The Wiggles Must Die!
Mine are being raised on The Simpsons. My 3 year old does a dead on Mr. Burns impersonation.
First base, Bugs Bunny...Second base, Bugs Bunny...Third base, Bugs Bunny, Shortstop, Bugs Bunny, Catching, Bugs Bunny, Pitching, Bugs Bunny....
We got several of those dog gone Baby DVDs as gifts when my son was born. They made pretty good coasters for the coffee table.
The local cable outlet is advertising a station that is devoted to programs for babies to watch. I forget its name but it sure made me spout off to my husband. Babies are designed by God or nature to learn from their moms and dads. They mature at a much slower rate than other mammals so that they can have longer one on one time with their parents. It is the intimacy, dependency and interaction that fosters learning. Not the latest video fad.
Maybe not so much in the baby einstein, but for the older kids it is quite interactive with regards to musical timing, colors etc..... Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating these as educational tools or developmental options, but like most things, moderation is key. My eldest son 11, watches some cartoon network stuff, but mostly he is watching the Discovery Channel, History Channel and the like and this is while he is in his room.
Against the Gashouse Gorillas?
Must’ve been on ‘roids! ; )
What does an eight month old have to say that anyone would find interesting, anyway?
God forbid people just TALK to their infants. Nothing beats that for language development. But most people use these DVDs as a virtual babysitter anyway.
“Well, sonny, back when I was a kid ... “
More and more I am finding that when I read these stories, I think "I knew that." Where did I get this uncanny wisdom that experimenters are just discovering?
It’s definitely not good sticking little ones in front of the tv. My 16 month old has little to no interest in television. However, he drops whatever he’s doing in the morning when I’m watching the news and drinking coffee when any drug commercial comes on. We have no idea why because there’s no pattern. He loves them all: the Enablex commercial (bladder), Boniva (osteoporosis), asthma meds, etc. It’s hilarious. Otherwise, he ignores the tv if it’s on.
Where did I get this uncanny wisdom that experimenters are just discovering?
You got it by not locking yourself up in an ivory tower.
I must take issue with you rearing your children on Bugs Bunny and Road Runner. Have you forgotten Rocky and Bullwinkle? My children learned to appreciate and recognize classical music because of cartoons. I sure hope you will introduce them to the Marx Brothers too. Just be sure to enjoy the shows together. I
Bullwinkle and Rocky and fractured fairtytales were all great. Thanks for reminding me. Remember Mr Peabody and his boy Sherman?
My one year old likes the dragon sock puppet that says “blah!” so much that whenever we put in a Baby Einstein video, he immediately starts saying “blah!” and sticks out his tongue. He did the same thing when I put on a CD of Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca”, which is used on the DVD. Now he will do it for any classical piano music. I can see him someday attending a performance by a world famous classical pianist and saying “blah!” so that everyone can hear.
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