Looks like Disney has some explaining to do… or at least some refunds to hand out. According to an article in the New York Times, Disney is offering a refund to customers that purchased “Baby Einstein” videos that claimed to help turn little babies into child geniuses. Apparently Disney overstated the educational benefits of the videos and they are now hoping to avoid a class action lawsuit by offering refunds to unhappy customers.
That could add up to a huge payout by Disney. In a study conducted in 2003, one third of American babies between 6 months and 2 years of age had at least one “Baby Einstein” video.
The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has been working for years to get Disney to remove claims that the videos are educational and other groups hope to lessen the number of children that get set in front of the TV. According to the American Association of Pediatrics children under the age of two should not watch TV. Some studies have found that children exposed to television at an early age later have attention span problems.
Admittedly, I’ve put baby “L”, who is only a mere 11 weeks old, in front of the TV with a Baby Einstein video. I picked up a couple at Costco that are aimed at teaching basic sign language. Words like “milk”, “mommy”, “daddy”, “cereal”, “play” are taught during the video.
I don’t use the video every day. However, when nothing else will help her to relax, the video does seem to grab her attention and she enjoys sitting in her swing and watching it… for about ten minutes.
Does this make me a terrible parent? I don’t think so. I often watch the video with her and my basic baby sign language skills have improved significantly… so maybe it’s making me a genius if it’s not making my baby one?!
What do you think? Is it terrible to let your children watch TV under the age of two? Have you purchased any Baby Einstein videos? Will you ask Disney for a refund?
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