The boobtube debate

Baby Einstein has stopped tagging its products as “educational.” Critics and experts have long been warning parents about the dangers of letting young children watch television. Is it really that bad? I still let my son watch his videos, though. Do you?

I doubt anyone really noticed, but last February 2008, Baby Einstein has stopped making educational claims about its DVDs and videos. A quick look at their website shows a redesign that has totally obliterated statements that claim any educational value to the Baby Einstein videos. According to a news article by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood,

Gone are claims such as the description of Baby Wordsworth as a “rich and interactive learning experience that … fosters the development of your toddler’s speech and language skills,” or that Numbers Nursery will “help develop your baby’s understanding of what numbers mean.”
- Disney No Longer Marketing Baby Einstein Videos as Educational (via CCFC website)

Instead, the semantics now play a big role in marketing the products by describing the brand as “developmentally appropriate products for babies and toddlers” and that the video line (among other electronic products) are intended for “interactive” purposes.

This policy change should ring a warning bell for parents. Most of us use videos such as Baby Einstein to placate the guilt of having to put our two-year old toddler in front of the television so we can get some rest, get some chores done, or simply get the child to stay one place, thinking, as my husband put it once, at least there’s something to learn there, unlike other cartoon shows like Sponge Bob.

Our son was not exposed to any television show or video for his first year. When he turned one, we started making him watch Baby Einstein because, first, he seemed to take to the shows quite well, the shows seemed to have a vision and purpose, and lastly, at the very least he can be exposed to some classical music.

Apparently, there have been many jabs at this “genre” of shows, mostly that they are misguiding parents with the claims of educational value. Google search lists several articles that feature experts countering the claims. One such article says that in a study published in  the [U.S.] Journal of Pediatrics,

researchers found that, among babies ages 8 months to 16 months, every hour spent daily watching programs such as “Brainy Baby” or “Baby Einstein” translated into six to eight fewer words in their vocabularies as compared with other children their age.”
– Study faults ‘Einstein’ videos for infants (via The Boston Globe)

While in another article, we read,

“the only thing that baby videos are doing is producing a generation of overstimulated kids. “There is an assumption that stimulation is good, so more is better,” he says. “But that’s not true; there is such a thing as overstimulation.” His group has found that the more television children watch, the shorter their attention spans later in life. “Their minds come to expect a high level of stimulation, and view that as normal,” says Christakis, “and by comparison, reality is boring.’”
– Baby Einsteins: Not So Smart After All (via Time)

Thankfully, I have not observed any great lapses in development in my child. Not with language nor with focus or attention span. In fact, according to my latest Babycenter email newsletter marking Matthew’s 30th month, we’re to expect him to become “increasingly good at matching words with the objects they describe. You can model for her the bigger vocabulary and more complicated sentence structure that she will soon grow into using. She can name a few body parts, some colours and even a friend or two.” Well, the boy knows most of his body parts already, can identify his friends and family, identifies colors and shapes, knows his letters and numbers. He speaks in almost-complete sentences (minus some prepositions and the interchanging “my” and “your” nowadays).

Did my son’s admirable development occur because he is allowed to watch his Baby Einstein videos? Add to that his collection of Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Little Einsteins, Maisy, and Thomas the Tank Engine? Maybe. And maybe not. In fact, sometimes I feel very guilty about how much time he can spend in front of the television if I don’t stop it.

I would say what helps is that we talk to him a lot. (Okay, Armand would say that I do the talking and Matthew talks a lot because I talk a lot—but that’s not the point.) And I try to compensate the passivity that normally results from watching videos by discussing things with him and applying the concepts in the real world. What did Diego do? Where did the star go? Did Rocket fly fast or slow? And Matthew readily answers me in detail. He struggles to find the words sometimes, but he tries really hard.

Perhaps it’s because we don’t depend on educational videos, or other “educational” toys, to teach him things. We read, we play, he accompanies me on my errands. We take him out on trips so he sees more than our traffic-congested highways. We find a way for him to play with his peers and to discover things for himself. If I’m lucky, he tries to help in the house, mainly because it’s play to him, like when he waters the plants or “fix” the bed.

So maybe the videos won’t make him a little genius. I never expected that. But sometimes we do use what we can, and these videos can come in handy. Just don’t make them crutches. And while I don’t count on it, maybe the kid can pick up some values, like the day he decided to “help Mama clean up like Rocket!” You bet he can watch that episode several more times.

Life as we knew it

We had a different way of life before. Our generation saw technology evolve. While today, we have seamlessly integrated the virtual into everyday life, from computer games, to telecommuting, e-banking, paperless documentation, online shopping, and other “modern” ways, we can clearly remember playing on the streets with our friends and learning our way around without Google or cable. We were left to our own devices and only our imagination limited us. For many of us, that’s how we learned to dream big dreams and started conquering the world in our own way.

In school, we played patintero and agawan base all the way to high school, until the principal banned it for being to unladylike. I was never good at Chinese Garter, but I did a decent 10-20. At home, our driveways were marked with chalk and broken paso pieces we used to create our for piko boxes.

We had all sorts of games that resulted in tag: tumbang preso, monkey-monkey, langit-lupa. There was also Mother May I Cross the River, and Pepsi-Seven Up.

I remember picking up a songhits magazine (Jingle was on the decline by then) to learn my guitar chords. Many of the lyrics were wrong were wrong in those books, but it was part of the fun. If I wanted a copy of a favorite song, I would wait for it to come on the radio and tape it, hoping that the DJ won’t speak too soon and ruin the ending for me.

Do you remember borrowing Betamax tapes at the corner shop? How strange it felt when the VHS tapes came out? Remember FHN, for those lucky few who had UHF access? Before internet chat, there was two-way radio: CB, then VHF.

It was certainly a different era. The band Sandwich hits a chord and an entire memory bank with this song and video, reminding us very well how things used to be.

Betamax
(Sandwich)

Wala pa nung MYX, wala pa nung MTV
Wala pa nung internet
Wala pa nung iPod at mp3
Wala pa nung cable
Wala pa nung cellphone
Wala pa ring CD or DVD
Meron lang betamax

Sa Jingle magazine
Natutong mag gitara
Sinifra ang mga kanta
Sa cassettte at plaka

Mula sa himig ni Pepe Smith
Mag blues si Wally Gonzales
Lumaki sa layaw ni Mike Hanopol
Bumalik ang kwago ni Bosyo
Kamusta mula sa Maria Cafra
Umistambay si Heber
Sa bahay ni Gary Granada
Nagbago ang lumad ni Joey Ayala

Nagreklamo si Chikoy Pura
Sa balita ng Asin
Ang anak ni ka Freddie
Kinontra ni Edu Abraham
Dumibidoo ang Apo Hiking
Mga kababayan ni Francis M
Beh buti nga sa Hotdog
Nosibalasi Sampaguita

Baby baby Rico J
Musikahan ni Ryan Ryan
Umiskul bukol kay Tito Vic and Joey
Sumayaw sa VST
Humataw kay Gary V
Bumilad sa ballad ni Martin Nievera
Request sa dj ni Sharon Cuneta
Nangako sayo si Rey Valera
Salamat sa the Dawn
Ang tatay ko, si Jack Sikat
Disyembre ni Binky Lampano
Nangarap ang Identity crisis
Wag kalimutan ang Wuds
Namatay sa ingay ng Dead Ends
Never meant to be Betrayed
Sa XB, NU at Club Dredd

Wala pa nung MYX wala pa nung MTV
Wala pa nung internet
Wala pa nung ipod at mp3
Wala pa nung cable
Wala pa nung cellphone
Wala pa ring cd or dvd
Meron lang betamax

Sa jingle magazine
Natutong mag gitara
Sinifra ang mga kanta
Sa cassettte at plaka

Ipagpatuloy ang daloy ng alon
Ipagpatuloy ang daloy ng alon
Ipagpatuloy ang daloy ng alon
Ipagpatuloy

Padayon

Apologies to those who do not speak Tagalog. I do not think that the euphemisms can be translated justly. A lot of the lines refer to the Filipino pop culture in the 70s and the 80s, with whole stanzas paying homage to our musical greats, as well as the other institutions that influenced us growing up. For those who grew up loving music, especially those who ended up living the musican’s life, I imagine that this can be quite a nostalgic trip.

Breaking the silence

Peeking in to say, yes, I’m alive.  Yes, I’ve been busy.

Busy. The word is quite an understatement.

Days are cramped, and still, there’s much to be done: Work. Matthew.  Work. Matthew.  Think of what to cook.  Work. Matthew.  Cram as many loads of laundry in one evening.  Work. Matthew.  Deadline is in 8 hours, and I need to sleep.  Work.  Matthew.  Maybe we should take a break and go out of the house.  Work.  Matthew.

Must say, though, that “work” also includes the fact that the husband is busy too.  His work + my work means that there’s no one to take care of the details of home.  I work when Matthew sleeps, though, so it’s not as much work time as him.

Thank goodness for a Labor Day barbeque and swim time with friends.  And fun-yet-shallow TV shows.  And comfort restaurant food.

All in all, things are great.  My fingers are crossed for greater things.  And as a friend wisely said, it’s now the time to roll with the punches.