Experts Rip 'Sesame' TV Aimed at Tiniest Tots

[deadparrot]

How young is too young to park a baby in front of the TV set? The American Academy of Pediatrics's rule has been steadfast: No television under age 2.

Now the venerable educational organization that pioneered "Sesame Street" is lowering that age limit with a new DVD series, "Sesame Beginnings," which targets babies and toddlers from 6 months to 2 years. Due in stores April 4, the videos feature baby versions of "Sesame Street's" most beloved characters -- Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn -- dancing and singing with their Muppet parents and other relatives.

"This could be the beginning of some beautiful friendships!" baby Elmo's dad says enthusiastically in one scene. But the product's launch has frayed some friendships and professional alliances among experts who monitor the impact of media on young minds.

"Essentially it is a betrayal of babies and families," says Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan Linn, founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "There is no evidence that media is beneficial for babies, and they are starting to find evidence that it may be harmful. Until we know for sure, we shouldn't risk putting them in front of the television."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/20/AR2006032001801.html

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Fucking disgusting.

Any parent that plops a kid less than three in front of a TV at all, or under 5 for more than a half hour, should have their children taken away from them.

That's fucking nonsense.

[Der Blaue Engel]

4. I'm sending my son over to your house right now

:D

(He's 14, and eats a lot. You may have to significantly increase your grocery budget.) :evilgrin:

[madmark]

6. my three year old has her own portable dvd player; i guess i should

be executed.

[sfwriter]

14. My kid watches Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, Clifford...

She knows her ABCs through F, She counts to ten, though not always in order. She can make faces when I ask her to show me happy, sad, angry, or silly. She knows five colors. She has been running and climbing since 9 months. (She will climb EVERY ladder in the playground, even the ones for ten year olds.) The first word she used regularly was bye-bye at five months old. She got that from teletubbies.

Today she said "Look! Horses Dancing!" and proceeded to make two toy horses dance through Dragon Tunes.

She will come explain the plots to me in two word sentences. "Oh no! Pig lost!" "Elmo bug!" "Earnie lost!" When Reading Rainbow did "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" it was like the second coming. "Mouse! TV! Mouse! TV!" (When she brings us books, she says, "Again! Again! Read Again!")

At the flea market she once pointed to a toy in a bin full of those things and said, "Oh look! Emily Elisabeth!" We put it back with no problem.

She will be 2 in June.

With all that comprehension, imagination and verbal ability, I guess she's ruined... :-)

What I do is only show her only commercial free TV, even skipping the ads on PBS at the beginnings of shows. Sometimes she watches, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she runs around the house with a laundry basket on her head yelling "HAT! HAT!" I haven't noticed anything detrimental about any of it yet.

[cantstandbush]

16. Most of these shows have positive messages of tolerance.

They don't want your children being influenced by those "liberal ideas."

[wtmusic]

19. I wouldn't attribute too much of that to TV

You're obviously taking care that she watches stimulating programming, reading to her, taking her to the park, engaging her in many other "hands-on" type of activities.

A limited amount of TV is fine. But in general it encourages passivity, and you won't really start to see the effects of it until she's older. IMO one hour a day is more than enough.

I just bought a terrific invention for my kids (9 & 11) called "Time Scout". Each kid gets a credit card which they swipe to turn on the TV. When their hour is up, it shuts off. Better grades, more reading, who knows...

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Coming soon: The Big Bird Sonogram.

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. Geez, my pediatrician neglected to mention this rule

I've ruined my child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Or not.)

His favorite thing on t.v. as a 3-month old was a bubblegum commercial where a girl blew a bubble that encompassed the whole screen, prompting some of his first real smiles. (I didn't "set" him in front of the t.v., it was just on, and he was in the room with me.)

:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

9. My son asked us for a "handicat" for his 3rd birthday

We had NO idea what he meant..and then one night he yelled..HANDICAT HANDICAT.. It was a commercial for the March of Dimes, and what he wanted was a wheelchair :eyes:.. When he was a little older he called them rollerchairs and still thought he needed one ...silly kid..:)

[anotherdrew]

10. hmmmm... Extreme Rollerchairing... perfect! mwhahahaha!

a perfect new fad for todays tubby tweens!

[Der Blaue Engel]

13. I admit I've watched those adult mobility scooter ads with longing

:D

(But I sure am glad I don't need one.)

[phylny]

5. The noise from television, even if it's not too loud, is detrimental

to a baby's language development.

[preciousdove]

7. Don't worry it won't last long.

Even toddlers usually only watch the commercials and ignore the shows.
Most babies won't pay attention for more than a minute or so and those that do might need it.

I have to admit that when I was watching my grandson from 13-18 months before he was diagnosed as having cranial stenosis (premature closing of the skull plates) up till they could schedule the surgery he had a horrible headache all the time and rather than having doped up all the time the Baby Einstein classical music series with its brightly colored moving toys kept him from crying all the time. As soon as three weeks after surgery he was no longer interested. He is perfectly normal 3 year old now. He had to learn to walk and talk twice but at least modern medicine has a remedy now.

[Sydnie]

8. where was the outrage when Disney was doing this years ago?

Disney has an entire "Baby Einstien" series exploring music and art and science. These DVD's have the target market of "infant to two" if I recall correctly. No one screamed about it when Disney did it, why the outrage now that an "educational tv show" is doing it? Guess is was ok because Deisney did have "Baby Noah" after all. :shrug:

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. My mother-in-law bought that (Baby Einstein)

for our new grandchild. Previewed a bit of it - I was not impressed or convinced that it had any value.

[WhiteTara]

20. That wasn't Disney, but it is a great

series, isn't it? Some of our mobiles are used in those videos.

[bleedingheart]

11. My TV is password protected, however...

when my son was a tiny tot and was receiving lengthy breathing treatments I would pop a children's video in and hold him on my lap and it would keep him somewhat amused for a while.

As a child of the information age myself...(I used to get dressed in front of the TV watching captain Kangaroo..)...I find that kids will watch a little...then play a little.

However too much of anything is not good....that goes for TV, food etc...

[rodeodance]

15. I think there are just too too many "experts"

[politicat]

17. Mom and Gramma plopped me in front of Ed TV at about 1.

We lived in a large farmhouse and there were places that I could get hurt. Especially during the summers, there wasn't always someone to watch me Every. Single. Second. A baby gate across the living room door meant that I could see what was going on in the kitchen, but not be underfoot. Since we canned a lot of vegetables and had other farm related things going on, having a dedicated child minder for one child was a waste of resources. (When there were more children on the farm, we had a minder. Usually me.)

I turned out better than fine. I read early, had a large vocabulary from about 18 months on, was emotionally and socially secure and very comfortable with most people. Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, Reading Rainbow and The Electric Company were very good for me.

I've watched both my nephew and my niece interact with televisions; both of them play a little then dance or play along with the games, then go back to their playing. Since that is normal infant and toddler behavior, I doubt the TV is ruining them. Both speak well for the ages, have normal to long attention spans, and have no behavioral issues of note. They are secure and comfortable with people other than their mothers, handled the transition to a day creche well, and are coordinated and physically healthy.

Most importantly, they are both capable of entertaining themselves and making up games for themselves. My sisters are not chained to their children as some mothers are; both of my sisters are able to have independent thoughts and actions.

But my family has never been terribly child-centric. We don't make the world revolve around the children, and I think we've all been better for it.

[clyrc]

18. My daughters sat on my lap and watched television

sometimes I read and sometimes I watched with them, but I never felt guilty about it. They are both very well spoken now, and television is a last resort when there is nothing else to do. My oldest would rather read or play on the computer, and my youngest would rather play outside. I don't think plopping a child in front of a tv by themselves for hours is a good idea, but some will not hurt them.

[yasmina27]

21. Sometimes it's a god-send

When our girls were 2 1/2 & 6 mo. old, sometimes I would gate them in the tv room w/ a kid's show/video playing so I could do some vital chores, such as run a load of laundry to the basement, cook dinner, etc.

Who knows, maybe if I hadn't done that, they would be in college by now (they are 8 & 10), instead of regular, normal kids who are developmentally appropriate in all areas. They don't watch all that much tv now, and can't wait until it gets warm enough to play outside.