Post: The Electronic Pacifier: No TV under two!
The Electronic Pacifier: No TV under two!
Today I got a firsthand glimpse of the pacifier wars. And I’m not talking about “binky vs. blankie-n-thumb”…
There’s an all out battle for parent’s mindshare as consumer advocates like Dr. Susan Linn, co-founder of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, face off with the electronic baby media empire, that’s racking up well over a billion dollars in sales of Brainy Baby, Baby Einstein and Sesame Beginnings DVDs.
C’mon. You know the ones. The whimsically colorful infant videos that babies aren’t even supposed to be watching to begin with, since The American Academy of Pediatrics “does not recommend television for children under age 2.”
Are media-saturated parents thumbing their nose at the AAP guidelines? Or just blissfully unaware of them?
Dr. Linn, hosting the ‘Consuming Kids’ Marketing Summit in Boston today, said parents are NOT purposely dissing the docs…It’s just that only 6 percent of American parents are even aware of the guidelines, and 7 percent are under the impression babies should only watch "educational" videos!
Where are parents getting these mixed messages? Isn’t it common sense that these chubby cheeked innocents shouldn’t need to be weaned from the tube before they’re even two?
Guess not… Kaiser Family Foundation reports a whopping 61 percent of babies age 1 & younger are watching 1:20 hours of screen media a day.
To read more, visit Shaping Youth, where this article originally appeared.