Shoppers and parents take note....

Having the pressure of "non-renewal" to make me actually read a book in (almost) the library-imposed three weeks, I plowed through the final chapters of the book Buy, Buy Baby which discusses in great depth the marketing of "baby genius" and "educational" materials to children (parents). The author spent 4 years researching children's toys and paraphernalia -- such as, but not at all limited to, Disney, Thomas, Care Bears & Baby Einstein. Additionally she covers parenting, No Child Left Behind, 1996 Welfare reform, day-care centers, as well as the schemes and aims of the marketers/companies behind the commercialization of parenting and the materials used in day-care centers. She has nearly 30 pages of end notes and almost 10 more as a bibliography. This is not someone who's crying wolf. There is a wealth of material and, hoping not to ramble on too much, I'll describe a bit here.

As a group, Gen-Xer's share primarily two traits: shopping and television. The Gen-X mom, this should come as no surprise, has been deconstructed in amazing and frightening clarity by marketing companies and they know how to classify you to suit their needs. As for children's television programs, research has documented that the only thing a child under 2 can "learn" from a t.v. show/video is the sight of a familiar face - which is exactly what the companies hope for. Here are some of the areas of cultural reform that she says are needed: more research (introduced in 2005 (!) by Senators Lieberman, Brownback, Clinton, & Santorum, but stalled in Congress) on the effects of children's television programs; at least partially PAID parental leave; allowing children to have open-ended play, or as she describes, doing Nothing. That is, not adhering to "standard's-compliant curriculum" which has come to day-care centers as a "trickling down of 'No Child Left Behind' rules.

But enough from me. Listen to an interview with the author or read the book.