Thanks to my sister-in-law Meg and my old friend Dave for bringing this one to my attention. It seems that Disney is going to make restitution to parents who purchased Disney's Baby Einstein products expecting their children to magically metamorphose into card-carrying members of Mensa, only to see those hopes dashed when Junior ultimately proved to be no smarter than an average bear. Did these people really, truly expect that a series of videos and cd's for infants and toddlers was going to have such a profound impact on their children? If so, isn't this more a statement about the delusional little world they occupy inside their own brains than it is about the failings of these "educational" products? And as I've said before, isn't it the ultimate responsibility of the parents to stimulate and enrich the education of their children from an early age (really, starting at birth)?
I'd wager that most of the parents that are complaining about these products like so many of us, are the type who throw on a DVD, plop their child in front of it, and then read their magazines/newspapers/books, talk on the phone, have lunch with friends, etc. And don't get me wrong, their is absolutely nothing wrong with using that temporary distraction to give yourself a little time for you (I know that I've been thanking God for Erin's devotion to Max & Ruby for several years now)... just don't delude yourself into believing that the distraction is anything more than that... a DISTRACTION. It will not turn your child into Brainiac, no matter how hard you wish it will.
The cynic in me wonders what comes next... what is the next step in our evolution as a blameless society? Perhaps blameless is not the right word, though, as there is always plenty of blaming going on, plenty of finger pointing when results do not meet our expectations. It's just that those fingers are rarely pointed back at ourselves. It is always someone else's fault. Such a lack of humility, personal responsibility, and introspection is shameful and sad. What kind of an example do we set for our children when our (or their) failings are always to be blamed on somebody else? Did your child fail to score an A in school? Well it certainly is not your child's fault! The teacher just doesn't like your child and has a secret vendetta against him or her. Or maybe the clerk at the shoe store sold you the wrong size shoes, and because your child was distracted by those uncomfortably fitting too-tight shoes, he/she couldn't pay attention in class, so yes, it the shoe store clerk's fault! Or maybe those Baby Einstein videos failed to turn your child into a "Baby Einstein" and he or she is now ruined for life. Modern America... Theater of the Absurd.
On a slightly different note, what kind of parent is going to come forward and say to Disney, "I demand compensation! We bought all of your Baby Einstein products, and they were supposed to turn little Trevor into a genius, but he's still a knuckle-dragging cro-magnon imbecile, so I insist you refund me my money!" Will these same parents then be able to come back to Disney in a few years and sue Disney for returning their money (a tacit admission that the child is...gasp... AVERAGE), in the process damaging their child's self-esteem? At this point, I don't think it would surprise me.
In the end, it does not matter who manufactures the "educational" video, music, or toy for your children. What does matter is your level of engagement with them. The most important and effective teachers that any child will ever have is his or her own parents. Nobody and nothing can have such a profound influence over their intellectual growth and development, as well as their physical and emotional growth & development, as their parents. We cannot shirk our duties, especially not on to a bunch of DVDs and CDs. Get a grip people. I'm just saying.
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