For the week of 5.8.06   

Underwritten by advertisers obsessed with profit, American television has increasingly targeted youth, whose buying habits are more easily manipulated.  Today, the coveted 18-34 demographic is only one part of the picture as greedy advertisers and television executives aim at an ever-younger audience for their wares.  Nielsen Media Research estimates that 15.9 million children aged 2 to 5 watched an average of 3 hours and 40 minutes of television a day during the 2004-5 TV season - 13 minutes more than the 2000-1 season. (New York Times, September 26, 2005) But not content with pitching programming at 2-year-olds, some firms are now moving to make toddlers and newborns part of the television "market."

A new DVD series titled Sesame Beginnings, which targets babies and toddlers from 6 months to 2 years, went on sale April 4. The videos feature baby versions of Sesame Street characters such as Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster dancing and singing with their Muppet parents. Sesame Workshop and Zero to Three, a Washington-based, nonprofit child-development and advocacy organization, worked together to produce the DVDs. (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

"There is no evidence that screen media is beneficial for babies and growing evidence it may be harmful…'Sesame Beginnings' will encourage babies' devotion to TV characters that have been licensed to promote hundreds of other products." -- Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood press release (AP, April 4, 2006)

In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children should watch no television under age 2, and the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 68 percent of children under 2 already view two hours of television daily. (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)  In light of these facts, the announcement of Sesame Beginnings' impending release drew a swift rebuke from child-care experts.

"[Zero to Three] apparently feels that parents are going to let their kids watch television, so we might as well get into the game, too. It is downright irresponsible…That they should have an alliance with Sesame on this really damages their credibility." --  Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard and committee member for Commission on Children, Families and the Community (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

Even Zero to Three's own founder was appalled:

"I absolutely support the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation that children under two be kept away from screen media. It's too expensive for them physically as well as psychologically…[Zero to Three] should end its partnership with Sesame Workshop and work instead to educate parents about the potential harms of screen media for young children." --  T. Berry Brazelton, pediatrician, co-founder of Zero to Three and author of 38 books on parenting and child development (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

Babies and toddlers have become a booming segment of the electronic media market. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported on a vast increase in products aimed at newborns. Kaiser's report said that most of the baby-media products claim, without support, to be "educational."  One such company, Baby Einstein, has logged retail sales of $200 million in 2005. Baby Einstein spokeswoman Rashmi Turner shrugs off child psychologists' concerns, saying "It is just a fact of life these days, babies interacting with all sorts of media." (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

"Kids that age are only awake 12 hours a day, so we have a generation of children who are watching television 10-20 percent of their waking lives. That's a dramatic increase." -- pediatrician Dimitri Christakis, director of the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington  (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

Aware of the tremendous profits to be made by selling products aimed at toddlers, new products are constantly being conceived and marketed, designed to appeal to toddlers and their parents. The new downloadable Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby program allows babies to play on a computer keyboard, causing pictures of animals to pop up and songs to play. When the child stops pressing on the keyboard the action stops. The manufacturer claims that the game "helps" children feel in control of a noisy, silly experience." (New York Times, May 4, 2006)

Not content to sit by and allow software and home-video manufacturers to dominate the market, television is increasingly moving to exploit this lucrative opportunity.  Cable and satellite systems nationwide now carry PBS Kids Sprout, a national 24-hour channel aimed at the very young. But unlike its broadcast equivalent, this PBS channel shows commercials.

Nor is Sprout alone in vying for toddlers' TV time. Two hours of The Cartoon Network's morning lineup are now known as TickleU and are aimed at viewers under 2 years of age. Cartoon Network vice president for programming and development Alice Cahn claims that parents want their toddlers exposed to programs "based on the value of humor and the value of optimism," which, she says, will help children get ahead in life. On TickleU, ads run every half-hour.

Also aimed at pre-childhood viewers are programming blocks Nick Jr. and Noggin from Viacom, Playhouse Disney from Walt Disney and Ready, Set, Learn from the Discovery Kids Channel. (New York Times, September 26, 2005)

The ultimate effect of all this programming aimed at children is uncertain, but the majority of experts question whether toddlers are helped by endless hours of television. Indeed, they say, it may be deeply harmful.

Research by pediatrician Dimitri Christakis, director of the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington, has found that early exposure to television could prove detrimental to attention span and cognitive development. Other research suggests that television viewing by babies could harm language development and sleep patterns. And babies and toddlers glued to the tube aren't doing other healthy activities such as creative play and interacting with parents. (Washington Post, March 21, 2006)

In their endless quest for dollars and control of viewers' hearts and minds, no rapacity is beyond television programmers' bounds. Not content with the sex-laden raunch aimed at teens and the violence and crude humor present in children's programming, now even newborn babies are not safe from the all-encroaching grasp of consumer culture's demand for money – and television's appetite for viewers.

"Essentially it is a betrayal of babies and families. There is no evidence that media is beneficial for babies, and they are starting to find evidence that it may be harmful. Until we know for sure, we shouldn't risk putting them in front of the television." -- Susan Linn, Harvard Medical School psychologist and founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (Washington Post, March 21, 2006) 

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