further Einstein rantings

Really, I thought I was done with this topic yesterday, but then Lenore Skenazy of Free Range Kids, a blog that I usually respect, posted the Baby Einstein refund as a positive. Now, I know you can't agree with anyone all the time, and that less TV is a tenet of the Free Range ideal - even if it's not one I'm particularly concerned about. But I have to admit, I don't understand what positive message it sends to children if parents admit to having been so duped by marketing that they bought a video they later decided was damaging.

First, let me note that the idea that TV isn't good for kids isn't a new one. We've been hearing about it in various levels of stridency for most of my life. So if all of a sudden a new series of DVDs comes out that claims to be "educational", you still need to weigh that claim against the research. Disney's claim does not negate the parent's responsibility to do adequate research.

Second, I don't understand why the idea (behind the Coalition for a Commercial-Free Childhood) that children might see a commercial is such a bad thing. It sounds like the parents should have seen a few more commercials, so they could have considered Disney's marketing more critically. My kids see a lot of commercials (since I don't believe TV is inherently evil) and yet have a fairly small amount of toys compared to many of their friends. Because I don't buy them everything they see. They see a commercial and cry out, "I want that!", true enough. In response, I either explain why they're never going to get it in a million years or tell them to save their money and buy it themselves if they want it so badly. (They rarely do.) I view these as teachable moments enabling my kids to survive in the electronic world so many parents want to pretend isn't the one we live in.

Finally, I strongly dislike the idea that these parents have given up so much of our collective buying power. By putting such a huge amount of weight on the power of Disney's marketing, this lawsuit basically sends the message that we as consumers will believe what we are told, until someone else tells us differently. The members of this lawsuit have just admitted that they're sheep - and yet they're celebrating as though they're the ones doing the shearing.

(I promise to be done with this now and post something positive tomorrow!)