MediaPsyched.com

Walk in to any book store and you can find rows of “how-to” books especially on parenting and raising children. As a society we can crown a book on the top of the bestseller list if we think it will tell us how to do whatever we want perfectly.

So what happens when a Britain’s top child psychologist and parenting expert who admits having promoted the “how-to” obsession with her own books and television series says enough is enough and for people to stop reading the parenting books and use common sense!

In the foreword to her new book Dr Tanya Byron says something rather unexpected. The parenting industry, she declares, is marketing a “simplified and unrealistic view of parenting”. The raft of books and television programmes that has sprouted from the modern preoccupation with the “right” way to rear a child is not helping but increasingly disempowering parents. They are becoming overwhelmed and confused by a burgeoning industry that is presenting the most instinctive human function — raising one’s offspring — as a combination of easy tips and techniques to be learnt like a five times table. The genre, she seems to be saying, is a monster spinning out of control.

We want the instructions for everything.  Sometimes, just because a book hits the bestseller list, too many people blindly put their faith in the book’s content.  Somehow we may feel that if we just do what someone instructs then we can’t be blamed if it doesn’t work.  How many times have you heard, “Well, I followed the instructions.” Yes, wisdom needs to be shared. Yes, how to books can be beneficial.  But common sense must not be forfeited to a blind trust in another’s words because of a reluctance to use our own discretion in the raising of our children.

I slammed the baby videos that are supposed to produce the next Einstein, questioning the effects of video images on the neurological development of infant brains.  However, I have a completely different opinion on programs that are being developed for the older adult’s cognitive abilities as is discussed in this NYTimes article. Although the benefits have not been scientifically proven (yet),

recent research in neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to change in response to information and new activities — shows that brain cells and new pathways continue to develop throughout life. A 2003 study found that people older than 75 who danced, read, or played board games or musical instruments faced a lower risk of dementia.

As I was conducting research with an elderly population for use in my dissertation, I had the fortune to meet a blind 97 year old woman who could run circles around me.  Each night, as she waited to fall asleep in bed,  she would perform complex multiplication formulas in her mind as a way of keeping her brain sharp! This was a person using common sense and so in touch with her mind and body that she knew what could benefit her mind.

An additional benefit for these programs is that they may serve as an engagement activity for those persons isolated at home - thus preventing mental deterioration from a lack of stimuli.  For an elderly non-Internet user, the comfort with the computer the individual develops through using these programs could lead to a desire to jump online.  Once online, these isolated people can have a whole new world open up to them. Online human contact can counter the physical isolation. 

I have always believed that plunking a baby down in front of a tv is the easy way out for parenting.  Rather than interacting with the baby, a digital image is now used to distract their attention from the human presence.  Now comes more research reinforcing that “educational” DVDs that purport to enhance infants’ language development actually can be detrimental to their lingual development.

As a former international marketer, I consider the creators of the Baby Einstein DVD series brilliant in their choice of name branding.  Once you can hook the brand loyalty, you can get away with a lot in terms of your product.  In an age of having to have the best of everything, many of today’s parents think they are getting their baby on the fastrack to brilliance through purchasing a guarantee that their baby is the next Einstein. Or perhaps they are attempting to compensate for their lack of one-on-one interaction in their baby’s development.

These parents are buying an illusion without considering the actual implications of having a developing brain subjected to visual and audio content which can stimulate that little brain and neurological system in undetermined ways.  This study focused on the babies under 16 months.  

Another area I think needs research is the effect of watching DVDs in a moving car.  I have to believe that there is some effect from focusing on a embedded screen with moving images while the periphery is rapidly passing by. We are going to have a generation of children who have never looked beyond the screen in front of them whether at home or on the road.

This article on CNETnews.com is on how universities are now turning to the “me” part of Web 2.0 in order to secure commitments from accepted students and once enrolled keeping the students engaged.  On the surface there are many positive aspects in utilizing an additional mode of information exchange. 

Good teacher education stresses the need to provide learning in three different modes: visual, audio and tactile.  This ensures that the learner grasps the content in the method they are most proficient. Online experiences can incorporate all three.

However, something troubles me with this obsession with tailoring everything to Web 2.0 formats.  Web 2.0 breeds narcissism.  It is a very singular experience -despite the allusion that one is networked into a huge group of others- and the “how I want it” aspect feeds the narcissism of self-importance.  The environment has become one of narrow definition determined by the user.  The benefit of any group activity or process is ignored for the desire to create individual self-realities.

I am finally finishing the book Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen.  I will be discussing this book over the next few posts.  Mr. Keen critiques the negative parts of the social implications of Web 2.0. Even if a technological development has positive aspects, don’t we still need to consider at what point the detriments outweigh the benefits?

On the surface, the recently released movie “Arctic Tale” appears to be an authentic animal documentary about a baby polar bear and walrus coming of age in the Arctic.  How could this possibly be anything than a feel good movie for both adults and children?

The filmmakers have taken creative liberties with the editing and enhancing of the footage in order to make a propaganda film on global warming for children.  As stated in a review in the LATimes:

IN the age of infotainment, Ravetch and Robertson’s [the filmmakers] methods are not unique. Doctored movie moments have existed since the genre was born, when filmmaker Robert Flaherty scripted scenes for “Nanook of the North” in 1921. But Ravetch and Robertson are among a new group of filmmakers inspired by the commercial success of Michael Moore and interested in experimenting with hybrid forms of dramatized documentary (my italics).

What does “hybrid forms of dramatized documentary” insinuate? Something that isn’t really what it appears to be.

Lynn Davidson expounds on the film’s propaganda tactics in full on her blog.

Finally, the description of the children giving suggestions of how to combat global warming while the credits roll  on how to “make” their parents behave brought back to my memory an ironic moment regarding the social commentary that sometimes occurs during the credits.

Several years ago I saw the film “Dogville” in Cannes (it never really hit in the U.S.).  During the rolling of the credits, the European director had a multitude of still shots of homeless, poor people in the U.S. (which had nothing to do with the film’s storyline).  After watching the musically enhanced denunciation of the state of U.S. society, I departed from the theater and was faced with having to step across several unconscious men sprawled about on the sidewalk. The filmmaker attempted to tarnish the U.S. while ignoring the same in his own backyard.

When someone mentions support for the parent of a newborn, it is easy to immediately think of the new mother and the struggles she may be facing.  However, an Australian man - realizing he was completely unprepared for life with his newborn - developed a DVD specifically for fathers.  In an upcoming second DVD, Troy Jones profiles the different struggles and and challenges of 60 fathers as they face various situations including the death of their wife in childbirth.

I think that a DVD is an excellent medium to use when targeting a man.  It is easy to carry on a trip, privately watch on a computer at home or inflight, and provides a combined video/audio experience. Being able to hear the experiences of their fellow fathers can alleviate the support void that men tend to have since they don’t talk among themselves or read self-help books as readily as women tend to do.

What a great solution to an overlooked problem! Naturally there’s already a U.S. television series in the works!