The Stupidity of Baby Einstein

Jen Chaney reports on studies suggesting that the Baby Einstein videos in fact hurt child development. But she doesn't get to why these videos are really bogus. She is right that what Baby Einstein really does is tap into the bizarre psychological needs of parents. But the great issue with this product is that it reflects the commodification of education in the United States.

Thank God I'm not a father. The world is a better place for it. But I am an educator in a field that most people do not associate with making money. Of course, there are multiple career paths for a historian. But many parents don't know that. They see education as a route to financial success, not as something with an intrinsic value in its own right. When their child wants to major in History, English, or Art, too many will wonder what they did wrong. Even if Baby Einstein worked and children's vocabularies increased rapidly, the point would not be to get them reading Dickens at the age of 10. It would be to get them into "top schools," where they could make lots of connections and parlay that into a good job and lots of money.

These attitudes are anti-intellectual, despite their educational facade, and we should fight them on every level.