On a typical day 61 percent of babies one year or younger watch TV or videos, with average viewing of more than an hour, the study found. A third of children under 6 have a TV in their bedroom. And more than half of parents surveyed said their main reason for putting a TV in their child’s room was so that they or other family members could watch their own shows.

“There has been this sense that it is kids clamoring for media and parents trying to hold back the tidal wave,” said Vicky Rideout, vice president of the Kaiser Foundation. “But what came out is that parents themselves are very enthusiastic about using media in their children’s lives. Many feel like they can’t make it through the day without the assistance it gives.” …

For most families surveyed, television is not a replacement for other activities, the study found. On a normal day, 83 percent of children read or are read to, the same percentage as those who watch TV or videos. But the increasing availability of programs aimed at young children — like BabyFirst TV, a new satellite and cable channel aimed at the under-3 set — is raising parents’ comfort level with electronic media and assuaging guilt over using television as a baby sitter…

Daniel Anderson, a professor of psychology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said pitches for products like BabyFirst TV and the Baby Einstein line of educational videos and DVD’s have convinced parents that fixation on television is educational for young children, even though little research has been devoted to television’s effect on infants and toddlers.

“The notion of sustained attention for many parents is a point of pride,” Mr. Anderson said. “Parents absolutely believe the marketing lines for these products, when the fact is that there is no real evidence yet of learning benefits.” …

Source: The New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/3xyreo

Almost 20 per cent of two-year-olds and 8 per cent of four-year-olds have language problems that could cause illiteracy and long-term speech disorders if left untreated.

An Australian study of 1900 infants from the age of eight months found children with language difficulties were often misdiagnosed as badly behaved or academically slow.

Preliminary results of the five-year study, to be released next week, found 19 per cent of two-year-olds were late talkers with a vocabulary of less than 50 words.

Boys with a family history of speech problems were the most likely to develop a language disorder.

“We know that late talking is predictive of later language disorders,” said lead researcher Sheena Reilly, director of pediatric speech pathology at La Trobe University. “We think at least 8per cent of four-year-olds have a language disorder.

“Lots of these kids go to school with the problem undetected and it gets put down to children not achieving or they are labelled as kids with behavioural problems.

“Early language skills underpin later literacy skills and spelling, and lots of these kids do not do well in school.” …

Speech Pathology Australia’s national president, Trish Bradd, said delays in treatment could lead to permanent speech and literary problems.

“The brain plasticity is such that there is a window of opportunity for early intervention that can make a real difference long-term,” she said. “If parents are worried, they should not wait to get an assessment done.”

Source: The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19288950-2702,00.html

BabyFirstTV launched in early May with mission to entertain children straight out of the mother’s womb.

The San Francisco Chronicle coins it nicely; this is the first step towards “raising baby couch potatoes“. “Too bad those behind the channel chose to dismiss the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that children under the age of 2 be kept away from television — not some of the time, or most of the time, but all of the time.”

Source: San Francisco Chronicle
http://tinyurl.com/2ewvly

With titles like “Baby Mozart,” “Baby Galileo” and “Baby Shakespeare,” these videos are clearly must-haves. What right-minded parent would deny her little drooler the “Baby Socrates” DVD?

The promotional materials make it clear: These videos are interactive, they stimulate development, they’re enriching and, most of all, they’re award-winning.

But do they really have any educational value?

No, says University of Colorado pediatrics professor Edward Goldson.

“They probably feed into parental needs to somehow enhance the child’s development,” he told News reporter Rachel Brand this week. “Personally, I wouldn’t purchase them, and I wouldn’t put my child in front of them.”

Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood agrees with Goldson. The group recently asked the federal government to force the makers of Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby to quit implying that their products make babies smarter.

But the head of Brainy Baby told the News his company makes no unreasonable claims. “We suggest parents use our videos in a balanced approach, as they would any learning tool,” said Dennis Fedoruk…

Anderson Walker, who teaches writing at Metropolitan State College of Denver, cites numerous studies and parenting experts who say that (1) babies clearly learn best by interacting with humans (2) exposing babies to foreign languages via video and hoping they’ll absorb anything is probably waste of time and (3) TV- and video-watching by babies under 2 has been linked to attention problems later in life…

Everything I’ve read says simple toys, like blocks, and one-on-one interaction with caregivers, whether it’s going to the grocery store or reading aloud, is still the best way to invigorate your baby’s brain.

Source: The Rocky Mountain News
http://tinyurl.com/3a4686

Philanthropist J.B. Pritzker and Nobel Prize-Winning Economist James Heckman Launch Major Early Childhood Initiative

“Our goal is to identify the most important development opportunities for children five years and younger, and to transform the way society and the business community view investments in early childhood education,” said J.B. Pritzker, consortium founder. “We owe it to ourselves and our nation to make this a priority now.”

“We cannot afford to postpone investing in children until they reach school age — a time when it may be too late to make a meaningful difference,” said Professor Heckman.

Source: PR Newswire
http://tinyurl.com/2jy2pk