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November 23, 2009, 09:30 AM ET
Hebrew U. Urged to End Deal With Disney Over 'Baby Einstein' Videos
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which houses the Albert Einstein archive and owns the rights to his image, is being urged not to renew its $2.66-million contract with the Walt Disney Company's Baby Einstein series when it comes up for renewal, in 2010, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, an American group of educators, health experts, and parents, says the Baby Einstein series and other videos for toddlers are actually harmful. "Parents believe baby media is educational, an impression that was fostered by Baby Einstein's marketing," said Nancy-Carlsson-Paige, a professor of education at Lesley University, in Massachusetts. In 2003 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children under two years of age not watch television. The New York Times reported last month that Disney was offering refunds to purchasers of Baby Einstein videos whose children turned out not to be geniuses.
Comments
1. c_clement - November 23, 2009 at 03:48 pm
Let's once again require the parents to do no thinking, evaluation or decisions on their own but impose our opinion on everyone else. There ae probably just as many studies to show that the right kind of programming before 2 years of age helps a child's cognitive ability. However, as an adult, don't worry, it will all be dictated to you.
2. 11272784 - November 23, 2009 at 03:59 pm
These folks need to get a life and let the world move on. Once more, just to remind us: too much of anything is bad for you, and nothing is a magic bullet. Got it?
3. 22228715 - November 23, 2009 at 07:51 pm
We should worry less about the damage that toddlers might incur from videos, and more about the genetic and environmental risks that come from having parents who think that buying videos will make their toddlers geniuses.
4. menubia - November 24, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I commend the CCFC for standing up to the incessant commercialism that is a part of childhood in the US. The Baby Einstein videos were a lame, but effective, attempt at exploiting the vulnerabilities of new parents to want to give their child(ren) all the opportunities possible to succeed in life. Disney should be ashamed of itself, and it looks like they will give refunds as part of their penance. All children need to have a great start on life is human interaction. Our belief that a television can replace a human being is the real scandal. No matter how old we are, turning off the boob tube will only make us better (and smarter) people.
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