The Disney Company, makers and distributors of Baby Einstein products is offering a full refund of $15.99 to anyone who purchased a DVD between June 5, 2004 and Sept. 4, 2009.
Apparently a kid stuck in front of the boob tube didn't turn into Einstein. The kid didn't even turn into normal public school fodder. Ouch!
I guess it isn't that easy to win a Nobel Prize, except the Peace Prize of course.
Technology has not made students smarter or more diligent. In fact, I would argue that the Baby Einstein experience has been reprised many times with many products, starting with stories on filmstrips and self-teaching machines. The biggest failure in education through technology has largely flown under the public's radar--Sesame Street! Its targeted audience, inner-city kids, has performed worse every year since the program began.
Becoming educated will never be easy. It requires effort. Sitting passively in front of the boob-tube won't make you educated even if you watch Shakespeare and MIT physics lectures.
I've told parents for years: Let your kids watch cartoons but keep them away from Sesame Street and every other program which purports to be educational. At least that way you won't convince yourself the kid is learning something.
Stand up. Get thee to a library!
