Disney is not pleased with the gurus at the University of Washington and they’re making it known. It probably would’ve been much better if the boys at U of W would’ve done their study when Baby Einstein was still owned by a mom and filmed in her basement. But Disney has the big bucks to fight back and they are. So not only have Disney lawyers written a scathing letter to the University demanding a retraction of their statement (I’m thinking the one about babies being more intellectually stimulated by watching American Idol, ruffled some feathers) but they’ve also launched a full frontal PR campaign to protect their precious dollars. . .er. . .um. . .I mean to encourage the development of young minds.
In Fairness. . .
According to Disney, the widely publicized press release grossly misrepresented the information put forth in the study. Furthermore, Disney criticizes the study’s original design. I don’t have the space to talk about experimental design here. It does appear that the sample of infants on whom the conclusion is based is smaller than what is mentioned in the press release. I can tell you that the sample was still statistically significant enough to draw a conclusion. However, the conclusion seems to be up for debate too. The original study says that they, “did not test through experimental manipulation whether or not baby videos had a positive or negative affect on infant vocabulary.”
Hey Disney, I Have News for You
I will not be shocked if in a few months, there is another study published about the wonderful benefits of babies watching baby videos. I suspect that its methodology might be equally suspect. But regardless, the University of Washington is not the only place to have published a study about the evils of television for young minds. I think they’re just the first to name a Disney subsidiary by name.
There is a reason the AAP doesn’t recommend television for infants (under 2 years of age). It’s because it’s not that good for them. Study after study talks about the benefits of live interaction and how babies need adults to interact with them in order to grow and develop. Numerous studies talk about the deleterious effects that television viewing has on young minds.
So whether or not the study was misrepresented in the press release is a moot point for me. Television is like soda for a babies brain. It won’t harm them, but neither will it do as good a job as mom does.
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