In case anyone missed the news item from a few days ago educational videos for babies and preschoolers actually do the opposite of what they claim. Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, I'm looking at you. To sum up the article: kids who watch these videos, even for "just" an hour a day, have a 17% DROP in their vocabulary vs kids who do not watch them.
Let's keep in mind that research over the past several years has made a fairly clear and strong conclusions that TV, in virtually any form, is bad for the developing brains of babies and little kids. This article has a good summary of the research, which includes a 2004 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics- this is not fringe or quack science, folks. That study found that for every hour of daily TV (or movies, or educational videos) watched between the ages of 1 and 3 years a child has a 10% higher chance of developing ADHD. 3 hours a day? 30% higher chance. But as with many things, you won't see the effects right away. In this case the attention problems start to show up around age 7, when it's far too late to just turn off the TV and stop the process (for the record, I'm not saying it's too late to help or improve ADHD at this age, just that TV inflicted damage was done years ago. Also, it should go without saying that not all kids who watch a lot of TV will have stunted vocabularies or develope ADHD. But are they risks you want to take?). Again, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended NO TV (yes, NONE) for children under the age of 2 since 1998.
So while last week's news about babies and DVDs shouldn't be surprising, it is still disappointing for a lot of parents. And I can understand why- it'd be great if toddlers could learn and develope their brains while mom and dad get a little break. But thus far there is NO evidence that that is possible, and bundles of it indicating that it's harmful.
1 comment:
I thought the first time I watched those dumb videos that they would be linked to ADHD or heavy drug use. :)
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