Empowered by Play » Baby Einstein

Lessons from Disney

Geralyn — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:04:00 +0000

A few years ago, on the first day of school, I sat down at lunch next to one of my new kindergarten students. She pointed over her shoulder and told me, “That is the popular table.” I was surprised; the seats were pre-assigned. “What do you mean by ‘popular’?” I asked. She explained, “You know. They have nice clothes.” This was her very first day of school, so I had to wonder where she had learned this. I asked, and she replied without hesitation, “The Disney Channel”.

Last week, I heard from a mom whose daughter loves to read, but is now getting called a “dweeb” at school. Mom and daughter are struggling with how to handle the teasing. Does she try to ignore the teasing and find new friends? Does she hide the fact that she likes to read? It is a problem that many kids in the United States face. Kids who like to study and learn are often the butt of the joke. “Dweeb”. “Nerd”. “Geek”. This affects kids of many races, in the suburbs and the cities. This mom is convinced that the influence of the Disney Channel – which many of her daughter’s friends watch – is at the root of her problem.

And just yesterday, someone sent me a link to a children’s clothing store that is selling “Pre School Musical” t-shirts for babies as small as 3-6 months – listed on the site under “Cool Baby Clothes”. When did infants go from cute to cool? The shirts aren’t licensed by Disney, but the Disney influence is clearly there. Disney’s High School Musical dynasty, and all the paraphernalia that comes with it, is already a major force in the lives of preschoolers – now we can extend that influence to babies. Enough already! But there is more…Disney is revamping their stores, calling them “Imagination Parks”. Hmm, for me, an imagination park has trees, flowers, sticks, leaves, rocks and other wonderful and inspiring natural toys – not microchips, movie clips at your finger tips and live satellite feed to talk with Disney stars.

Disney has already agreed to refund parents for Baby Einstein videos that have been proven NOT to make your kids smarter. For me, they have publicly admitted their manipulation of parents. To now pretend that their products and stores promote imagination is a total farce. Their products and stores promote imitation, NOT imagination. And the lessons kids are learning aren’t the ones we want them to imitate. (As illustrated above.)

For more information on the messages Disney is sending our kids, watch Mickey Mouse Monopoly. It’ll knock your socks off.

Support for parents in the fight to raise healthy kids

Geralyn — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Today I am encouraged by the AAP’s (American Academy of Pediatrics) new statement on media use. For years, the AAP has recommended no screen-time for children under the age of two, and the new statement covers children of all ages, including teens. More and more studies are showing a correlation between media content (music lyrics and images, television programs, video games, etc) and dangerous, unhealthy behaviors in children and teenagers. The statement calls for pediatricians to take more active role in the media-lives of their patients.

“Pediatricians and other child healthcare providers can advocate for a safer media environment for children by encouraging media literacy, more thoughtful and proactive use of media by children and their parents, more responsible portrayal of violence by media producers, and more useful and effective media ratings,” the authors said.

The findings are published in the November issue of Pediatrics. Click here to read more.

For me, having many allies in the fight to get hold of media-influences on children’s development is a welcome and necessary step. As a classroom teacher, I’ve met kids who were growing up too fast, and were highly influenced by the media images aimed at older children. Not having the mental-health or medical background to help these students – at times I needed to find medical professionals to help. From those experiences, I know that parents and teachers need more help to teach and raise healthy kids in the current plugged-in, media-saturated world. Music, media and technology are changing at such a rapid pace that it is hard to keep up with what your kids are watching and listening to – especially as they get older – and kids are bombarded with images even when we try to protect them. Pediatricians can be a much-needed ally, and are now being advised to ask media-based questions during annual check-ups, and to recommend other forms of healthy entertainment. Excellent!

The report offers further suggestions. They make perfect sense. In some ways, they are incredibly obvious, but nonetheless it is good to have them formalized. Here are some:

Taking these findings into consideration, the authors recommended that pediatricians do the following:

Become familiar with the role of music in the lives of children and adolescents and identify music preferences that could be clues to emotional conflict or problems.
Become familiar with the literature linking music to behavioral problems.
Explore with patients and parents the type of music to which they listen.
Encourage parents to take an active role in monitoring their youngsters’ music and music video watching.
Encourage parents and caregivers to become media literate.
Help raise public awareness of these issues by participating in local and national coalitions to discuss the effects of music on children.

The group also made the following recommendations:

Parents and public should be aware of and use the music industry’s parental advisory warning of explicit content.
Performers should serve as positive role models for children and teens.
The music video industry should produce more videos with more positive themes about relationships, racial harmony, drug avoidance, nonviolent conflict resolution, sexual abstinence, pregnancy prevention, and avoidance of promiscuity.

In other good news, the Disney company’s offer to refund parents who purchased Baby Einstein videos actually made the front page of the NY Times!

Good News, Fantastic News and Sad News

Geralyn — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:40:00 +0000

The good news is that Common Sense Media has changed their recommendations for toddler Halloween costumes. Yea! I wrote to the editor today and heard back quickly. She agreed that Harry Potter and Star Wars (PG and PG-13) were not good ideas for toddler costumes, and thanked me for pointing out their mistake. She made quick changes to their website. Small victory there.

Huge victory, however, for CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood). Today I got an update on the Baby Einstein video situation. CCFC has persuaded Disney to offer a full refund on any Baby Einstein videos purchased in the last five years! Click here for more information from CCFC. Absolutely fantastic.

The sad news is that today I also learned of the passing of Ted Sizer, the founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools and the author of the visionary book on high school reform, Horace’s Compromise. Ted was a champion of authentic assessment and meaningful work, and so much more. Tonight I feel the loss, though I look forward to celebrating his life at the annual Coalition of Essential School’s Fall Forum in New Orleans in just a few weeks.

I will always remember the day Ted came to my kindergarten classroom. We shared lunch at one of the small tables and chatted about ideas big and small. He was a tall guy with visionary ideas, but was completely at home in our kindergarten world. Ted was and always will be an inspiring educator.