Thanks to my youngest son’s recent struggles with teething, I’ve had the pleasure of watching several infomercials in the wee hours of the morn. Amongst the crazy kitchen gadget shows, miracle bowel cleansing formulas and get rich 
quick scams, I couldn’t help but take notice of theYour Baby Can Read! program.
The basic idea is that “research has shown” children who learn to read early, perform better academically in the future and have higher self-esteem. And apparently, by the time they’ve started learning in school, parents have missed a great opportunity to take advantage of the mega-synapse expansion that goes on during the baby and toddler years.
Luckily, founder and father of the first Your Baby Can Read! test subject, Dr. Robert Titzer, developed a marvelous learning system for your baby including five DVDs, five sets of word cards, five flap books and a few helpful doo-dads for parents to implement the program. And all for the bargain basement price of $200+ hard-earned smackeroonies.
This disgusts me.
While I’m openly skeptical about the effectiveness, that’s not my issue. I have two major beefs with this program:
1. I loathe scare tactic sales pitches. Implying that an infant’s future academics and self-esteem may be at stake are low-blows to a weary parental mind. Playing such an advertisement to a crowd of women who haven’t seen a full night’s rest in months, if not years (like me), at 3 o’clock in the morning is sick.
2. When did we become so obsessed with growing our children up so fast? Are babies expected to be more than babies, now. If so, I’m a bad mom.
Moms – Your children will not suffer if you choose not to sit them through hours and hours of learning activities. If your baby can’t read by his second birthday, the other toddlers won’t laugh at him. They’ll be playing with blocks and scribbling on construction paper like they should be.
Advertisers who take advantage of parents’ love for their children and desire to provide opportunities they didn’t have- You sicken me. If your product is great, there are other ways to market it effectively without messing with maternal emotions.
I’m all for education and absolutely want my children to be well-rounded and brilliant. EVERY mother wants those things for her children. I don’t however believe an expensive box of media, geared towards infants who are too young to even recognize themselves in a mirror, is the miracle answer. I choose to let my babies be babies and teach them along the way.
How about you?
Image Source: flickr.com/photos/25490146@N02/3387737266
About jessi
