No Mesmerized Einsteins

Baby won’t get any smarter watching television — even when plunked in front of a baby-educational video. Researchers from Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School reached this conclusion after monitoring more than 800 tikes from birth to 3 years old. Commenting on the findings, Dr. Michael Rich, a co-author of the study, didn’t mince words. He called baby-educational videos “just wasted time.” Even at their very best, he added, “they steal time from much more productive cognitive developmental activities. Ultimately, what it’s about is to make parents not feel guilty about an electronic babysitter.”