Study suggests educational DVDs and TV may not be so good for baby after all
August 8, 2007 by Andy Merrett · 1 Comment
This article was first published at Tech Digest:
A new study from researchers at the University of Washington suggests that using educational TV and DVD, such as the “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby” series, or “Sesame Street”, may not be as beneficial for babies and young children as many hoped.
It’s hardly a crime for parents to let their children watch some TV, and if it’s teaching them something too, so much the better (at least, better than letting them watch Big Brother). Even so, the study suggests that for every hour per day that babies watch these DVDs and videos, they learn six to eight fewer new vocabulary words than babies who hadn’t watched them.
Now, parents being told what’s best for their kids by University boffins often leads to emotions running high. While these studies suggest that children who sit passively in front of TV shows don’t do as well educationally, child-raising is a helluva lot more complicated than that.
Violence on TV: Legislation or parental responsibility?
April 27, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the USA has concluded that Hollywood isn’t doing enough to protect children from viewing violent programming on cable and satellite TV, and that Congress should authorise government action.
Unsurprisingly, the TV networks aren’t keen to bend to this kind of pressure.
There’s plenty of talk on both sides about what the right thing to do is.
