Big news: Disney is offering parents refunds on Baby Einstein DVDs because… they don’t work worth a darn. As this article explains, the corporation settled with the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, tacitly admitting that watching shapes and colors doesn’t make kids smarter. In fact, it does precisely the opposite, reducing vocabulary gains.
Brains, exactly like muscles, need to work and stretch in order to grow. Doing is better than observing. Playing is better than watching, no matter what’s on the screen.
I wonder: is this the start of a wave? What other so-called educational products will be next?