Dept. of Misnomers: "Reality TV," Meet "Educational Baby Videos"

I agree with you. Obviously I haven't read the study, but the articles I've read about the story seem to imply that a parent would show Baby Einstein instead of reading to their child, as opposed to doing both. And no, I don't expect Baby Einstein to build my kids' vocabularies.

While I don't know how much value there is to Baby Einstein, I know there are worse things my kids could be doing with their 14 awake hours. I wish I could read to them or play with them for 840 minutes a day, but I can't.

My kids are now 4 and 2. We have watched Baby Einstein, but neither fell in love with those videos as much as Sesame Street & Bear and the Big Blue House. I felt better having the kids watch the latter because there is structure & plot to those shows, and encourage vocabulary growth through their many sing-along songs.

As for my over-all feeling on baby hypnotizers, I think its important that parents find ways to give themselves a break from stressful times that children sometimes bring on. A little tv time (& I mean little) for the kids can really bring some sanity back into your life.

And better yet, sit with your child & enjoy the show. Participate, ask the kids questions about what they see, and sing along. Humming along to Beethoven is not as much fun as joining along to, "Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud. Sing out strong... "

Here's an interesting question. As a TV writer do you enjoy reading? I am an avid reader and avid television viewer and avid video game player and avid nerd with poor grammer and sentence structure (or so my english professors have told me). You had your children watch Baby Einstein but how much during a day/week. How much did you read to them (if at all) in comparison.

I can't imagine plopping my children in front of the tube as a substitute for parenting, although I would love to partake in television viewing with them as a supplement to our other activities.

In summation and I don't really think I made my point so here it is.

Books>TV (please don't be offended Mr. Tuned In)

@Karma: As a writer, I'd be in a lot of trouble if I didn't also enjoy reading. Why should one preclude the other?

Anyway, yes, the Tuned In Jrs. got read to a lot as babies (still do, though the older one now reads to himself as well). I'd say they now average an hour to an hour and a half of video a day; when they were babies, say one year, it was less (though #2 got more TV at a younger age because #1 was around). Not just Baby Einstein--which, as a parent, just annoyed me--but cartoons for younger kids like Noggin's Maisy.

I mean, a day with a baby, even a frequently napping one, is a long day. There's plenty of time for reading AND play AND baby-hypnosis-sanity breaks in there. Hence "moderation and all that" in my post.

Parents love to beat up on themselves in our helicopter-parenting era, but keep in mind that when many of us were babies, it was common to plop your kid in a playpen for hours--which doesn't seem to be usual anymore among even Baby Einstein users. I'd have to see some hard stats before I believe that parents actually spend less quality time with their babies nowadays.

I don't necessarily believe writing and reading go hand in hand. I like to read and do so well but can't write and hardly enjoy it beyond that it allows me to converse with someone who I can't otherwise speak to.

I agree that television is a nice break inbetween other things, and can be relaxing. I like to watch old episodes of favorite TV shows to put me to sleep which causes tension with my girlfriend because she prefers listening to music while she falls asleep. Good times.

Also, not to get too off topic but what TV Shows would you recommend for someone who recently got an account with Netflix and has a lot of time on their hand in the evening after work? I'd have e-mailed the question but can't locate one, sorry. I'm leaving my e-mail address so you don't have to get too far off topic. Sorry for the subject change. A list of 5 would probably a good start. Lost is pretty much the only show I watch regularly.

To preclude my comments, I watch a little tv a day and my kids did watch some tv each day when they were little. I read for pleasure daily. They read for pleasure daily. Done.

Ok,here's a little conversation based on medical expertise...the single most important predictor of success in school is a child's language skills. When they are young and can't read yet, the best way to increase their language skills (both expressive and receptive) is to be talked to (not at) or read to. A child under age 3 learns best (I won't go into all the brain development) when learning is repetitive and reinforced. TV cannot respond back. It cannot give feedback when a child understands something, doesn't understand something, says something the correct way, asks a question, etc. A human can - that human being the parent, child care person, sibling, etc. Vocal language is best developed (really, only developed) with interaction. When you are reading a book or riding in the car with a baby and the baby sees a dog and says "da", you (and do) respond back with "yes, that's a dog! Woof!) When baby sees a dog on tv and says "da" and mom/dad are in the kitchen getting dinner - well,nothing happens. The TV moves onto the next picture...

The problem lies in parenting that cannot limit the tv time - no matter how old the child to a proper limit - say an hour or less a day. It becomes too convenient and "hey, baby LOVES it1"

No one expects a parent to read to their child 10 hours a day - but having the tv off opens up time for other "interactive" activities where they will receive feedback and repetition so their little minds can play neuron tag and make those nifty little brain connections...

Do baby videos make a baby smarter? I can't really adress "baby" videos as we didn't have any for Keith Jr. when he was a baby. We were part of a program for toys that were supposed to make him smarter. He did enjoy them and he is smarter than his old man when you compare school grades. Of course, he probably would have enjoyed any age appropriate toy we bought. In fact, he did. I also suspect that his school grades have more to do with a mom who was a straight A student than it had to do with the toys he played with.

We did load up on little kid videos and he did love this one series called "There Goes a (insert a vehicle name here)". He loved anything that moved and loved watching these videos over and over and over. I thought they sucked the thousandth time I watched them, but he loved them. But what do I know, Keith Jr. is way smarter....a fact he points out to me often when comparing our school grades.

Any way, to the point. Keith Jr. had watched the "There Goes a Helicopter" perhaps five million times. Keith Sr. was tasked with getting Keith Jr. to preschool and back on a daily basis. We passed the helicopter hanger for the OKC Police Department (that "Saving Grace" works for) on a daily basis and sometimes were lucky enough to be driving by when they were taking off and landing. This was always a treat that warranted Keith Sr. being late for work just like when a train happened to be going down the tracks. We always had to stop and watch. On a lark one day, Keith Sr. decided to go for broke and pulled into the parking lot of the hanger. With Keith Jr. (probably 3 years old, maybe 4) in tow we knock on the door and ask if it would be possible to see one of the helicopters up close and personal. Sure says the pilot. Off we go. Keith Jr. proceeds to start identifying the various parts and controls and what they do to the pilot. The pilot stands there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes as big as saucers. He wanted to know how old Keith Jr. was. I told him and informed him that he had a helicopter video he watched repeatedly. Regardless, the pilot was impressed.

So, can TV make a kid smarter. Sure, why not. It just depends on what they watch.

@ Karma: Don't see your e-address (and don't know what you've already watched), but:

The Prisoner (a classic you'll enjoy if you like Lost)
Twin Peaks (ditto)
The Wire -- as many seasons as possible
Arrested Development
Freaks and Geeks

I can imagine a reader who doesn't enjoy writing but not a writer who doesn't enjoy reading.

@yoursis: If you are my actual sister, maybe you can account for how watching all those episodes of The Brady Bunch affected your development as a child. (Mom always said: Don't play ball in the house!) If you're not, thanks for posting anyway.

Just to add to the discussion about kids getting read to - for busy parents, books on tape can be a lifesaver - my parents bought me several read-along books, and read several others onto a tape for me to read along with. I loved being read to, and when somebody needed a break from reading me my favorites over and over, I could listen on tape, and know when to turn the pages because of the bell! I was reading on my own before I turned three years old, because I matched up the written words with what I was hearing, and quickly memorized them. Reading to me, talking to me, and supplementing my development with books on tape were some of the best things that my parents ever did. Side note - for my first years of life, I only had one video, "Snoopy Come Home", but according to my grandmother I watched it Every Single Day. Hee.

We watch TV, but nowhere near as much as other people do. What is even more important, we watch TV together and, without being prudes, my husband and I don't watch anything that we wouldn't allow our kids to watch (they are now sixteen and twelve).

Cable TV brought the 24-hour broadcast and there is such a wide variety of programming that it's very hard to figure out what is appropriate and what isn't. We don't have cable because it's too much of too many things.

My argument against the so-called "make your baby smarter" videos is quite simple: our twelve year-old is developmentally disabled and from very early on he loved classical music. He would listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin...and then came Baby Einstein! Someone in his school played these DVDs for the children and it completely altered his notion of good classical music. I was -I admit- appalled and heartbroken, but with patience and persistence he is now back to listening to the real thing. He has a vast NAXOS collection and he reacts to the music in a very emotional way...unlike with the tinkling sounds of Baby Einstein.

Like many other children of their generation, my kids have watched their share of Disney and Muppet movies, but they have grown out of these by stages. The same has happened with reading; while my oldest read the first Harry Potter book avidly and waited for the follow-ups with enthusiasm, he has moved on to Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and other authors that expand his vocabulary and his thinking.

If parents get involved and stay involved (not wanting to have a super-smart baby, but wanting to help their children develop properly), the harm that can be effected by whatever they watch on TV will be lessened. Just like schools are not entirely responsible for educating our kids (and they are not day-care centers either), videos they watch will not destroy their minds IF THIS IS NOT THE ONLY INFLUENCE THEY ENCOUNTER.

Just for record - yes, those episodes of Brady Bunch episodes DID pay off - between Carol and Alice I had all the guidance I needed to become a great mom! But hey, look how all that reading I did to you as a child paid off, for well, you Mr. Tuned In...

And see Keith,you hit it on the nose! While your son WATCHED the helicopter show you followed that up by going by the helicopter hanger often, surely talking about what you were seeing, visited with a pilot where Jr. could make the "connections" (neurons at work!) between what he saw on tv, saw in the air, read in a helicopter book and then saw right before him. That combination of learning WORKS. The video alone would not accomplish all that. There lies the problem of Einstein - don't pop it in the DVD player and feel you've provided the learning opportunity of the day - some temporary enjoyment yes, another step to the Harvard, no.

I don't have kids, but my hypothetical child-raising philosophy mirrors your own on this subject: skeptical of claims of automatic disaster or improvement. Practically speaking, I imagine baby hypnotizers are very important.

James

Love your column but I have no idea what YMMV stands for (perhaps this is because I'm from Australia? Not too sure Anyway, if you can enlighten that would be great.

Cheers

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary. Comes from a standard disclaimer in American car ads when they make claims about a car's fuel efficiency.

Prefer YKMV = Your Kilometrage May Vary?

I think as long as you stay involved your kids will be fine. Too much of anything can be detrimental...even of hovering over them or limiting their experiences. They are children, but that's what the process is for becoming an adult.

TV makes kids fat, lazy, stupid, spoiled, and inattentive. All of you who still let your kids watch TV should be ashamed of yourselves. TV should only be viewed by people 18 years old and up. Anyone who is not old enough to play the lottery or buy cigarettes cannot handle the fast visual images displayed on TV sets.

Take away the TV, internet, cell phones, radios, iPods, and all other electronic debauchery from your children. Be real parents and follow your childrens' every minute. Only then will your kids become respectable, responsible, kind-hearted, loving, caring, sharing, and virtuous individuals.