Not sure where, if anywhere, i'm going to send this. I'm looking for some feedback and ideas of where else to take the article.
If ever at your apex of boredom, browse the various baby shower gift registries by way of websites like amazon. Sure enough, somewhere within the pacifiers and diaper requests you will find a petition for some from of a “make my child a genius” toy. Companies like Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, LeapStart, Learn Baby and others have consumers sapped into believing that their child can deviate from their average IQ simply by way of listening to Johann Sebastian Bach during their sleep. Parents who otherwise spend their entire lives consumed with tabloids and reality TV are somehow convinced they need only fill their child’s room with vast amounts of toys which count to 10 (in two languages) in order to set their child's inner, creative, genius mind a-soar. I cringe every time i see a "your baby can read" commercial. Who cares if your child can read by two, if they never read again past 22!
At best, such educational media is probably ineffective, yet, at worse, it may even be harmful. Educational media “gives parents a false sense of reassurance that their children are learning, says Michael Brody--chairman of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's committee on TV and media--yet, “There has been no good scientific evidence of the value of smart baby products.” Thus, it’s not that such educational videos and toys are harmful, it’s that parents are choosing to substitute these videos for interaction.
Can we imagine if other primates attempted to teach their young by way of ‘Baby Smart-Monkey’ videos? Such younglings would surely be in a lacking state, but this is exactly what some parents are doing. These do-gooders are laboring under the misapprehension that learning is learning, or simply, that as long as numbers and letters are radiating from toys and T.V., they are parenting. Such a reality is ridiculous! Is it even worth mentioning that your child needs you. It needs interaction, to play, to mimic, to be engaged.
According to Stanley Greenspan, MD, author of Building Healthy Minds and a clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School in Washington, D.C, newborns to preschoolers need the following kinds of interaction with a caregiver to enhance their intellectual and emotional growth:
Yet, sidestepping the issue of the child needs. What possesses parents to believe that Einstein toys will make their child an Einstein? An exaggeration you say? Than I ask you to find me a parent whose flustered with their childs learning progress. I dare say there isn’t one. All toddlers are geniuses I suppose!
If reading is far removed from you and your spouse's life, you may almost bet that your child will probably find reading taxing! If you want your child to love reading, than start reading! Prove it! read children books to your child, read your books aloud to your child. Spending an hour watching some doltish program while your child with your child and explain why your laughing!
In fact, if you want to see a true baby Einstein, read Einstein's writings on ethics and politics. There you will uncover a babies intellect!
Even more comical, many parents won’t be outdone by competing parents. They go beyond buying boxes of toys that count to 10 and insist on consuming vast’s amount of their child's time per day waxing the ABC’s and 123’s. The insanity!
Our entire structure of educational production is warped into a competing memory game. Students of public school history spend hours parroting the names of states and capitals. Students of public school math must pretend that calculating devices don't exist. Science class is it's a race to see whose trivia can steal Ben Stein's money.
Read until you have something to write...Write until you have nothing to write...when you have nothing to write, read...read until you have something to write...Jeremiah
It's very rough and unedited
I see this as a non-issue and trying to pin some sort of negativity on the toys themselves seems to take attention away from the real problem, which is simply bad parenting. After looking at some of these toys, they look like great things for your child to play with and very well could help them develop very useful skills that will benefit them later on in life. Sure, by simply plopping these things in front of your child, without giving them attention in other ways, you are not helping them much, but the same could be said by replacing Einstein Toys with a Playstation 3.
With that being said, I'm hoping I missed the point of your thread completely.
I suggest you read some Alfie Kohn articles on the subject. He wrote books such as Punished by Rewards.
www.alfiekohn.com . You can get a bunch of articles from him on his website. You should also go to youtube and search his name for some interesting videos. As a teacher , I agree with his ideas.
Thank you for the suggestions
Sorry, but you are completely missing the mark and are not well informed aboutthe issues. First of all, please do not lump in all products with a "Baby Einstein" lable. For instance, Brainy Baby is COMPLETELY different and extremely effective in teaching. Content matters and you can no more say all of these types of products are bad or harmful, than you can any other product. Without the facts, how can you make representation that these products are damaging?
Most of the so called "research" regarding these toys and DVDs have been proven to be flawed, yet these "studies" continue to be published and "experts" give us their opinion on a daily basis. Please see: http://www.junkscience.com/ByTheJunkman/20070823.html for a current example.
Also, you are ignoring a very large body of science that conclusively shows that many of these products do indeed increase intellitgence, not to mention thousands of testimonies from parents. I recently saw that Brainy Baby had a University Study that was peer reviewed and showed that their products increased a child's learning by 22 times! However, this fact is rarely reported.
I think the issue is this... these toys and DVDs are teaching tools and just like anything else and need to be used in moderation. I don't see any of the companies you cited making outrageous claims or suggesting that their product alone will create a genius. So, why in the world should any of us attack companies that are really doing us a favor by providing products that help? If the the product doesn't work, guess what... people would not buy them. I contend that these products DO indeed work and provide a valuable function (also from first hand experience). So, maybe it's time we give it a rest and let parents choose what is right for our children.
Sorry, but this is now a very old subject and frankly, the parents, including myself can handle this one. Let's please write about something more valuable and get off this witch hunt. And, for the future, my advice is that you really research what you are writing about, rather than just taking the word of what you hear in the media.
"What possesses parents to believe that Einstein toys will make their child an Einstein? An exaggeration you say?"
Subconciously, I do not think that is what the parents think.
Buying all of that junk is just a way for immature parents with too much disposable income to manifest their insecurities. You may as well try to intelligently interpret the actions of a mad-man cornered by tigers in the jungle.
You just know that the motive for such articles is always dictatorial aspirations by the writer, although there isn't always an explicit call for government prohibition of some sort. The opinion expressed in this article is an example of ignorance not only in the science of human action, but also to the type of science it pretends to adhere to. On its own "fallacious" grounds, it cannot make a substantiative case for any potential harm. The science of Behavioral Genetics should have ended this debate (at leas along such superficial lines of argument) over nature vs. nurture already a long time ago, yet these people will never accept its results, and continue to refer to flawed and useless research.
I wouldn't care for their opinions so much if it wasn't for these people's strong aspiration to use compulsion and coercion to force their agendas on everyone else.
"Also, you are ignoring a very large body of science that conclusively shows that many of these products do indeed increase intellitgence,"
Not to sound like an ass, but I would appreciate a link to some of said studies for the sake of looking at them. Thanks.
And apparently, the CCL (Canadian Council on Learning) is also doubtful , at best, of the value of educational toys in regards to increasing or helping whatever they are supposed to (intelligence/skill/competencies...) .
http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsinLearning/LinL20100505EducationalToys.html
DVDs and videos, such as the popular Baby Einstein series, offer learning experiences to young children yet research has shown that the learning that takes place is not equivalent to real-life experience. This is a phenomenon researchers have dubbed thevideo deficit.[15] For example, researchers have shown that children aged 15 to 24 months learn new words faster and easier when interacting with an adult rather than watching television.[16]
[15] D. R. Anderson & T. A. Pempek, "Television and very young children", American Behavioral Scientist, 48 (2005): 505–522.
[16] M. Krcmar, B. Grela & K. Lin, "Can toddlers learn vocabulary from television? An experimental approach", Media Psychology, 10 (2007): 41–63.
If the the product doesn't work, guess what... people would not buy them.
This picture might be of assistance:
Probably the same PR tools who produced this sales pitch for Brainy Baby:
http://usteacher.biz/2010/12/the-importance-of-pre-school-educational-toy-for-babies-and-toddlers/
Notice how Baby Einstein is bad for you but how the other brand is just so great: Brainy Baby® (the trademark icon used only and ALWAYS for Brainy Baby in this article is a clear giveaway).
Educational toys are just a very sad fad that take people's (parents, teachers, communities and so on. I don't mean government btw.) attention away from the real questions they should ask themselves, such as( not exhaustive) : What is education? What is good education? What does it mean to be educated? What should be the ultimate goal of education? Is our current system/solution providing an outcome that is in accord with this ultimate goal of education? Is education more than a "bunch-o-facts", if so, what and how should we approach transmission/learning? Is it necessary to know a lot and pass standardized tests to be educated? Are these tests reliable at all and do they measure what we want them to measure (what should they be measuring anyway?) ? Are we teaching to prepare students for the test and, if so, is this a proper way to approach education (and testing) ? Are we teaching the right things? Are we teaching too much, too little?