Time Magazine reports that with every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos (Baby Einstein type videos), infants learned six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who never watched the videos.
Two things to say here:
1. If you thought that putting your kid in front of any kind of television would actually make them smarter than interacting with them in person during those 30 minutes...all I can say is "Duh."
2. If you think that babies who watch these videos now and then (and my kids did) are actually going to be dumber than babies who don't...all I can say is "pah-leeeeeease." 30 minutes a day of calming, non-educational stimulation isn't going to dumb down anyone.
I just don't buy that this study really measured the effect of these videos on normal kids who watched these in moderation. I mean, there ain't much talking going on in the videos, so I buy that they aren't learning anything speech related from them. Duh, again. These videos are just "breaks" for moms and dads to plop their kids in front of so they can hit the toilet on their own or get a bit of work done or just freaking eat dinner. They are calming and non-violent and 30 minutes long. There ain't nothing wrong with watching some of them and no one is going to tell me otherwise. But if you are actually using these as some kind of educational aid? Well, reality check: just play and talk to your kid for that kind of thing.
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