Baby couch potatoes

Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

The Disney Co. has offered refunds to anyone who bought a Baby Einstein video over the past four years — an apparent effort to smooth a child advocacy group’s ruffled feathers.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a group affiliated with Harvard Medical Center, had battled with Disney for years, complaining that the Baby Einstein advertising was false and misleading by suggesting that children could develop verbal and cognitive skills by watching TV.

In a news release issued in September, Disney quietly offered the refunds — $15.99 per DVD, up to four per person — for anyone who returned a Baby Einstein DVD. The offer, which Disney says is standard policy for dissatisfied customers, wasn’t widely noticed until a month later when the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood claimed victory.

There has since been a new war of words between Disney and the campaign over whether Baby Einstein improves a child’s mind.

At its root, the argument is silly: Television promotes childhood development? Parents know that hours in front of the TV turn adults and children into couch potatoes, but when the videos are couched in educational terms, they are best-sellers. Baby Einstein is the hottest of a number of similar brands.

It is no wonder it has been such a success. What parent would deny her child a chance to become the next Einstein?

Disney Co. denies there is anything wrong with its brand. It says its products increase parent-child interaction.

Parents who have watched a Baby Einstein DVD know they are entertaining and interesting. But it is one thing to use videos to supplement a child’s education, and it is quite another to let the television raise the children.

The real problem seems to be to with the adults who have been seduced by the hype, believing in what really was too good to be true. Some parents think they can incubate their infants’ minds with TV, but they instead should be spending more time with their children, reading to them and playing with them.