Baby Einstein is evil and no surprise that it's also Republican

[JackRiddler]

Videos for 1-2 year olds, under whatever guise ("education") is evil.

Something many people understood when first confronted with Teletubbies, but apparently they fall for the "Einstein" sell.

Excerpt:

CFCC Complaint to FCC

In May, 2006, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood filed a lawsuit and a complaint to the FCC against the makers of Baby Einstein and similar series geared towards very young children. They cite false advertising by these companies, due to the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that children under two do not watch television <2>, and a study showing that only 6% of parents are aware of the recommendation, <3> <4> yet 49 percent of parents think educational videos like these are very important in the intellectual development of children.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Einstein

About the Campaign:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0510-10.htm

Side note: Advertising aimed at children was banned in Sweden. You'd think people would be human enough to be revulsed at the idea without needing a law, but obviously we do need such a law.

[sandnsea]

1. death video games = good

Classical music and shapes and letters = bad.

Is this really the most important thing there is to deal with? There is no advertising in Baby Eistein videos.

[bbernardini]

2. Nobody seemed to give a crap until the founder attended as a guest of Laura Bush. nt

[rinsd]

3. Ding ding ding, we have a winner! (nt)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

56. Hm. That explains some of the defenses too. -nt

[rinsd]

60. Could be.

I just think the "horror" at what this woman does for a living is a bit over the top and directly related to her Bush support.

[JackRiddler]

4. mistaken

Any TV aimed at children under six is evil. After that, television should be kept in a room separate from children and allowed in supervised doses of no more than an hour a day. And I certainly thought this before last night's confirmation that the brains behind this business is a supporter of Bush (what a shock).

[Lurking Dem]

5. Have you seen any of these videos?

Floating, moving colors and classical music. HTF is that evil?

[Katherine Brengle]

7. Overzealous myopia, imo.

Some of it is bad, so it is all bad, right?

[Lurking Dem]

10. I always love the anti-tv folks.

Many proclaim all (or most) tv is bad and you should read books. Have you SEEN the books for sale lately? A lot of them are pure crap.

If people picked what they watched on tv as carefully as they picked what books they read, they would have nothing to complain about.

[Clark2008]

55. I know.

My son is the sweetest 7 year old I know. He makes Straight As and gets Good Citizenship and Honor Roll awards. He watched educational television from about 15 months on - Blue's Clues, Sesame Street, some cutsey videos in between. And we read - a lot. Labels on food, books, magazines, billboards when we drove...

The key is parental supervision and involvement. TV is not inherently evil (commercials may be!), but there's nothing wrong with a little blue dog and her owner solving clues.

[Lurking Dem]

59. My kid also watched tv and videos.

I remember buying videos that reminded me of my own youth so we got The Red Balloon and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - things like that.

He loved Sesame Street when he was real young and Wishbone when he got older. He was reading at 4 1/2, placed 3rd in state at the Geography Bee having never attended a geography class, and graduated high school one month after turning 16.

He is now a sophomore in art school studying film and will turn 18 in the spring. I do wish he would read more fiction. His pleasure reading involves books on Russian foreign policy from 1929-1941, something by Cornell West, and The Myth of National Defense.

Clearly his brain hasn't rotted or anything.

[Pattib]

61. Word Clark2008.

My son is 22 and he just emailed me his honors thesis. He is an amazingly decent kid. He watched television also. Sesame Street was huge in my house. There weren't a lot ofother kids shows at that time. Mostly Saturday cartoons. Just because your kid watches some television doesn't mean his mind will rot.

Now my son watches Jon Stewart and listens to NPR. That's about it. He's president of the GSA and on the Campus Judiciary. He has a lot to keep him busy. His television viewing declined with age. Sometimes life is boring and you just want to veg out to Seinfeld.

[Maine-ah]

12. don't you know

Sesame Street is the root cause of all this evil....

[Lurking Dem]

15. .

http://www.bertisevil.tv/

[Maine-ah]

19. see, I told you! ROFLMAO!

Bert is Evil !
JFK assassination
In this rarely seen photo, we see Bert standing in the side lines a few seconds before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. We have sources who claim that Lee Harvey Oswald and Bert were friends in Korea. Though no proof directly points to Bert's involvement in this ghastly shard of history... we wouldn't be too surprised if he was.



Recently the investigating party found out that the picture in which Lee Harvey was shot had been tampered with. After intensive restoration it showed that Bert, allegedly Oswald's friend, widnessed the shooting. It raises a bunch of new questions, was Oswald supposed to die before he could point Bert as his accomplice?


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[spoony]

25. Sesame Street is evil?

Teletubbies are evil? Where have I heard these things before?

[Maine-ah]

36. hey, there's that one teletuby that's gay

it's how "they" are pushing "their" agenda....

:sarcasm:


:rofl:

[spoony]

49. Yeah! That one with the purse!

Though I think I recall an interview where that Teletubbie used the Seinfeld defence that it was actually a "European carry-all" :)

[Tigress DEM]

26. She is supposedly an American Hero.

Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is one way or the other. Not a hero in my estimation and definately not in the same league as a man who threw himself on the train track in front of his children because it was the right thing to do to save a man who had a heart attack and fell into the path of an oncoming train.

But if parents sit with their kids and watch/listen to classical music, that's nice. If they plant the kid in front of the tube, not so good.

Anything in a baby's environment that is positive & uplifting probably isn't going to be a bad thing especially if the parents are involved.

People who think they are capable of creating some sort of wunderkid are the danger I think, not the product itself.

[BoneDaddy]

58. Absolutely

The left is as guilty of demonization based upon politics as the right is. I think Baby Einstein is a great idea, my kids loved it, it has been helpful. I still watch Mel Gibson, Ron Silver, Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis because I like them as actors and not their political thoughts.

This kind of crap makes the left look stupid.

[Katherine Brengle]

6. There is at the beginning and end, but they can be skipped ---

There have been numerous studies done showing that music and bright colors/black and white imaging aid in developing an infant's brain and thought process.

I think tv is the scapegoat of our generation. It will be replaced with something else in 10 years, and so on and so forth.

Yeah, if you're 6 month old is on a steady diet of Jerry Springer and South Park, things might go awry - but Sesame Street and Baby Einstein aren't going to hinder anything imo.

My daughter (who will be 3 in April) watches education television shows pretty much every day and she is the smartest kid her age I have ever encountered. She also watched television, in small amounts, well before the magical age of 2.

[sandnsea]

17. Tinkerbell???

Because that's all there is, that and the Disney castle logo. Is that what they're bitching about?

[moggie]

8. "Death video games" for 1-2 year olds?

Wow, where have you seen those for sale?

[JackRiddler]

14. won't necessarily be long before they arrive...

n/t

[sandnsea]

18. Referring to the hypocrisy

Of people who have a shitfit if anybody dare question their right to the most godawful blood and guts crap ever invented, but turn around and have a shitfit over classical music and colorful shapes.

[moggie]

50. I see your point

But I don't think those are comparable. A 1-2 year old and an adult are at completely different levels of brain and moral development (outside the republican party). I doubt whether Baby Einstein is harmful, and think the OP is hysterical, but you might as well suggest that it's hypocritical for a drinker not to give their toddler Jim Beam.

[JackRiddler]

51. hysterical, schmysterical

Okay, it's not evil. I was having fun exaggerating, and a lot of people seem not to appreciate the humor. Sooooo sorry!

Thanks for your fine points, anyway.

This video company cons parents into thinking their kids will get smart by watching the videos, which is bull. Problem number one.

Number two, the impact is probably harmful, not because of content, but because it's training infants to watch TV. The biggest problem is in the structure of the medium, the way it blunts activity and curiousity and creates a bogus warmth.

As a parent I was at times grateful for videos and the break they allowed - nevertheless, after the age of four.

[sandnsea]

52. No

It would be like someone who rants about drug prohibition turning around and getting in a twist over baby tylenol. The drugs really aren't good, but the baby tylenol doesn't hurt a thing. Complete bizarro world.

[verse18]

9. It's evil in the sense that

parents pay good money to have their child sit in front of the television screen in order to learn the same things the parents could be teaching them directly. The personal interaction, attention and bonding is what is essential in learning.

[AngryAmish]

57. For parents who have the time to constantly interact with their kids

Where is it written that parents have to constantly interact and entertain their kids? What about parents who have to work a lot to pay the bills then are in a death dash at home to do laundry, feed the little buggers, clean the house, etc.? Do plopping the kid in front of the tv to give the parents some time to do things inherently evil? Or are mothers chained to their kids 24 hours a day, thus precluding them from working outside the home?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. Oh. My. God. That Is One Of The Most Hilariously Melodramatic And Inaccurate Declarations I've Ever

heard!

"Videos for 1-2 year olds, under whatever guise ("education") is evil."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Pardon me for my laughter, but I couldn't contain it.

For the record, baby einstein videos are not only perfectly fine, but so are tons of other children's videos. I found the evil thing to be just really really really silly and over the top. Forgive me. LOL

[JackRiddler]

13. well I'm having fun on the rhetoric

hey, you gotta pull'em in somehow. But the point still stands... TV is not showing bright colors and simple shapes, it shows electronic images of same.

Here's a press release I agree with:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0510-10.htm


MAY 10, 2005

CONTACT: Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood
Dr. Susan Linn [phone] [e-mail]
Dr. Diane Levin [phone] [e-mail]


Children’s Coalition to Parents: HBO’s Classical Baby is a Classic Hoax

WASHINGTON -- May 10 -- The Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is warning parents to keep their infants and toddlers away from the upcoming HBO television special Classical Baby which will air on Saturday, May 14. According to HBO, the program is beneficial for infants and young children.

Psychiatrist Alvin F. Poussaint of the Judge Baker Children’s Center challenged HBO’s claims about the show’s benefits for babies: “There is no scientific evidence that demonstrates watching television is beneficial to infants. In fact, because of possible risks, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under the age of two shouldn’t watch any television at all.”

Wheelock College Professor Diane Levin, author of Remote Control Childhood, said that the push to get babies to watch television is depriving them of the real learning and exploiting parents’ desire to be good parents. “Babies learn best by interacting with people and objects and seeing how they can affect their world. What they learn from television is to turn to screens for stimulation and soothing.”

Classical Baby is being promoted as HBO’s first evening special for infants, babies and parents. HBO claims the program will introduce young children to classical music, painting and dance and “fulfills the potential for TV to inspire and engage a baby’s imagination and sense of wonder, while serving as a wonderful tool for early learning – and family bonding.”

CCFC’s Susan Linn, psychologist and author of Consuming Kids, countered, “Babies do not need HBO or any television to bond with their parents or enjoy music. Turn the TV off, put on your favorite music, and spend some time rocking, singing, or dancing around the room with your baby. Now that’s bonding.”

The Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration among organizations and individuals who care about children. CCFC supports the rights of children to grow up – and the rights of parents to raise them – without being undermined by rampant consumerism. For more information, please visit: www.commercialfreechildhood.org

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

16. That Article Was Meaningless. Furthermore, The Repeated Usage Of AAP Recommendations Is Fallacious.

Tell me, do you know the reasons for those recommendations and why they are in place? What are they? Are you and others just using the guidelines as a generic wholesale condemnation on tv for those under 2 in order to suit your agenda, even though the AAP recommendations didn't do such?

[sufrommich]

20. No,we don't need laws

to stop advertising during children's shows.That is a parent's choice,along with what and when they choose to watch.I would prefer that you,and Jerry Falwell,and the anti Harry Potter fundies,and whomever else thinks I need their special insight on what kind of entertainment comes into my house,to mind your own business.

[JackRiddler]

24. way to go on lumping in the unrelated...

As a parent, my pain in the ass was that the TV industry didn't mind its own business and stay out of our child's childhood. Because we weren't going to force the kid into a plastic bubble, you bet there was constant exposure to manipulative messages designed to deceive children into pestering their parents to feed them high-sugar products, through other children and through street advertising, for example.

I don't see how anyone can defend commercials aimed at victims who have no way to defend themselves. Sure it's your choice: do you make sure your kids get to see the Cocoa Puffs commercial?

And exposing children to the passivity and false warmth of TV at an age of complete defenselessness (anything below three, certainly) is wrong.

[sufrommich]

27. Ridiculous.

You want a certain classification of television commercials banned from the air because YOU deem it "victimization" of YOUR children,that's fine,turn off the damn TV.Teach your children how to tell reality from fiction .Should we also ban "street advertising" and "other children"who may have been raised differently than yours?I lump you in with Jerry Falwell and ilk because that is exactly the reasoning that they give every time they yell"ban it!".It's not ever good enough that they control their own children's exposure to popular culture,they will not be happy until they control everyone else's too.

[JackRiddler]

33. cigarette commercials were banned

and there is regulation on political advertising (poorly conceived, but regulation nevertheless). If Joe Camel is wrong because it is designed to make smoking look cool to children, and worthy of regulation, then cute animated animals telling them to pester their parents until they get a refined sugar fix is also wrong. You want to call this Jerry Falwell? Whatever. Logically it would be like me calling you the moral equivalent of a drug dealer, which you're not.

And what would be wrong if street advertising didn't exist at all? You upset by the idea of a city liberated of its visual and mental litter?

[sufrommich]

39. Your original OP

was a call to ban all commercials geared towards a certain age group and Had nothing to do with the sale of cigarettes.I assume it means sugar products and toys since that is the majority of ads aimed at them.I gave you a very simple solution to your concerns (turn it off)that would not intrude on the rest of us.Yes,I would be very upset if Jackriddler gets to decide for the rest of us what constitutes"visual and mental"litter.
God save us from the modern day puritans,whatever their political stripe.

[scarletwoman]

21. I'm with you. Parents parking their babies in front of a TV, instead of engaging them in real life

is simply wrong.

I cannot fathom how anyone could support entraining an infant to passively stare unblinking at a screen. To develop as a fully engaged human being, that human being needs to be actively involved in the 3-D world with all their senses, not be hypnotized by electronic pixels that cannot be interacted with.

We've seen the results of this entrained passivity in the devolution of our society in the decades since television became as integral a part of American life as flush toilets. Apathy, alienation, lack of critical thinking skills, widespread ignorance and shallow materialism, disengagement from true community, making greater emotional investments in simalcra than in the "real" world, shortened attention spans, desensitiztion to violence -- all these things and more can be tied to the changes wrought in our society by widespread tv addiction.

Why would any responsible parent want to bond their infant to a television set?

sw

[Lurking Dem]

22. They are designed to be interactive

WITH the parent. It's like a giant video board book. It's meant to be a shared activity.

[scarletwoman]

23. So? Why should a parent and child need an electronic mediary to creatively interact?

I mean, for gawdsakes! Take your baby outdoors and point out how the tree leaves move when the wind blows! Or roll a brightly colored ball across the carpet! Train your baby's peripheral vision, not just frontal vision.

There's no NEED to entrain infants to watch an electronic screen. And my personal opinion is that it is actively harmful.

sw

[Tigress DEM]

28. Why can't you do both?

I'm just saying that parents should choose what works for them and other people should keep an open mind.

TV itself isn't evil. FAUX News on the other hand.... definate stink of sulfur.

It's good to be cautious and not overdo something like this, but I think people are overreacting.

[scarletwoman]

31. Sorry, I really can't agree. I think parents do active harm to their children by

acclimating them at an early age to relating to an electronic screen. Every minute spent in front of an electronic screen is a minute spent of NOT engaging in the 3-D world.

Why would any responsible parent substitute an electronic screen for a 3-D world that engages all the senses? Why would any responsible parent substitute a pre-frabicated visual experience for the challenge of the random chaos of the multi-sensory 3-D world?

What is going to develop a human brain more fully -- controlled programming or interaction with the true and essential ever-changing nature of real life?

sw

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

41. I Think Your Narrow Minded View Is Quite Sad, To Be Honest.

I don't know about what things were like in your household; but in mine my wife and I are dancing, playing, singing, engaging, making toys dance, etc every step of the way as our children are watching the singing/dancing tv show or whatever. We are not only fully engaged with them, but they are thoroughly engaged with the 3-D world around them as well via their own dancing, laughing, making their toys dance, spinning, jumping around, hugging all while having a blast with their momma and dadda.

So spare me this cold and narrow minded point of view above. It is grossly inaccurate.

[Lurking Dem]

47. And every minute you spend arguing it on

an electronic screen is a minute not spent engaging in the 3-D world. Yet here you are. You seem engaged to me.

Tools can be misused and abused. But they are only tools.

[scarletwoman]

48. I like to drink beer, too. But I wouldn't give alcohol to my baby.

There's a great deal of difference between an experienced adult making a choice to engage with a particular tool, and an infant just learning how to orient to the world.

sw

[jhasp]

29. Exactly.....

and make sure to learn how to play classicial music if you want your kids to listen to it, because radios are evil too. :eyes:

Seriously, my two kids (11 months and 2 years) both watch Sesame Street. The older one gets up and dances to the songs and it's made him so stupid that he can say his ABCs and can count to about 13 (tonight at dinner he counted each finger as I held them up).

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

42. I Hear Ya. This Thread Is Disturbing To Me In Multiple Ways.

[sandnsea]

32. My 18 mos grandson...

knows his colors, shapes, numbers by sight, and half the alphabet by sight. We are starting on phonogram flash cards and dot math cards because that's supposedly what you do next. If they had a Baby Einstein specifically designed for that, we'd use it because they're professional educators and we're not. In any event, it isn't as if we just plop the child in front of a tv, he wouldn't stay there if we did. Why would you assume that about anybody?

[sandnsea]

30. Why would a parent drive an infant for hours in a vehicle?

They STOP CRYING. Gads.

[scarletwoman]

34. They stop crying because of the sensory response to the motion of the car.

It is the motion itself that is soothing. They are actually physically moving through space. I don't see any comparison to training them to watch electronic signals on a screen.

sw

[sandnsea]

38. They respond to the visual and auditory stimulus

Hey, I'm as anti-television as the next person. We thought the whole thing was a sales gimmick. My daughter actually bought them for the classical music for the baby in the womb. She was shocked that he actually watched them after he was born. What was even more peculiar, he didn't like the ones that were for older children. They aren't any different than watching a mobile overhead or pictures on a flat book or paintings for that matter. It's just a different medium is all. I think you're being overly judgmental about something you haven't seen for yourself.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

43. You're Right. No Comparison. Being Stuck In The Car Is Far More Guilty Of Sensory Deprivation.

Unless you think that staring at the back of mommy's chair is wildly engaging with the 3-D world.

:rofl:

[Avalon Sparks]

35. I like the Baby Einstein Videos

Watched them many times with my nephews, thought they were cool. We also laughed and laughed at certain parts - we had our little inside jokes and routines - even when they were only two years old. We also read books, played with toys and other stuff and one of them even sat with me at the computer when he was only 18 months old and we found things to look at - but the Einstein videos always provided lots of fun.

I see nothing wrong at all with the Einstein series. I do not have children and I used to think it was awful for parents to 'park' the kids in front of the TV, vowing that if I ever had kids they'd never watch TV as children. However, after spending a lot of time with my nephews I've relaxed my views, I think in moderation they are fine and fun.

My nephews are now in school and doing fine. With all the attention they get from their parents, grandparents and me the doting Aunt - they could probably even use a break from us, to just relax and watch the screen, ... lol

I personally watch about 6-7 hours of TV a week - almost always have kept it that amount - so don't go thinking these words are coming from a couch potato.

If you don't want to support a Repub business buy the DVD's on Ebay or at garage sales.

[OKNancy]

37. I would love to finish reading this thread, but I have to go

watch American Idol.. later
:-)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

40. Do You Have A DVR?

If not, get one. They are invaluable for things such as American Idol.

For example, you are already gone and watching.

Me and my wife, however, do not need start watching until almost 9 PM, and by the time we're done fast forwarding through commercials and inane babble we don't want to listen to, we'll be caught back up to real time right along with ya!

Gotta love a device that can actually ADD hours to a day!

[OKNancy]

46. Uh, yes I have a DVR

I recorded Olberman, but thanks for the advise

[ulysses]

44. pffffttttt.

I'll grant you that the woman who runs the company is annoying, but there's nothing wrong with the videos with moderation (no, a child shouldn't watch TV all day. A child shouldn't do *any* one thing all day) and perspective (no, the videos will not make your child brilliant).

[aikoaiko]

45. but then again, sometime a 15 min Baby Einstein is the only break a

stay at home mom will get that day.

[bbernardini]

54. And she'll probably use that...

...to go smoke while talking on her cell phone at Olive Garden. ;)

[symbolman]

53. I have a two year old

and the best Program on TV for kids is one called "SIGNING TIME", with Rachel and her little deaf daughter and cousin.

This woman writes FANTASTIC music and doesn't treat kids like they are RETARDED like Barney does, or some of those other shows.

My son knows about 300 signs (American Sign Language), all of the abcs in Sign Language, colors, concepts, SCHOOL stuff, at TWO..

I've met this nice lady at several of her concerts, one in LA and one in HONOLULU and let me tell you, what she is doing is Revolutionary.

I URGE ALL Parents to watch her show with your kids, as YOU will learn sign language too, it develops the part of the brain that uses Speech, so it's good for them, and another great side effect is that there is virtually NO TERRIBLE TWOS - that's mostly due to poor communication skills, and with sign language there is NONE. Good for ALL kids, whether they talk or not, she even has a BABY Signing Times show out on DVD now..

My son's been signing and 'talking' to us since he was 9 months old, watch it on PBS, you won't be sorry.

As for Baby SHITSTAIN, I WILL NEVER AGAIN PURCHASE another one of her products. Not only is she a SHILL for BUSH and WAR now, she sold out to DISNEY, HERR MAUS.

Check out Signing Time, you won't be sorry, believe me - keeps the kid engaged all day, they'll watch it over and over, of course you have to drag them to the beach, or out to hug a tree now and then :)

Oh and buy your kid one of those larger aerobic trampolines for inside the house, they're only about 50 bucks and my kid LOVES it, getting lots of exercise while filling up his mind, got one for the family for Xmas.. don't forget to 'spot' them tho when they are on it, stand there and be ready to catch them.. you won't believe how CUTE it is when the little suckers start getting some air on one :)

[Raskolnik]

62. Your standards for "evil" are certainly different than mine.

Maybe misguided...ill-advised...unpleasant...distasteful...but "evil"? C'mon now.