‘Baby genius’ apps under fire

Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Mar. 15, 2014

Can mobile apps help babies learn their ABCs and 123s? Doubtful, say several child development experts in opinions that could hobble the break-neck growth of the online "baby genius" market. This week, the consumer advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood released the opinions of six experts. Their findings were essentially in agreement: "Based on scientific evidence on how infants learn, I believe that claims that a two-dimensional touch screen app can teach alphabet letters, numbers, and counting from 1 to 10 to babies are inaccurate, seriously misleading to parents and potentially detrimental to infant development," said Laura Berk, a professor of psychology at Illinois State University.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2014 (4275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Can mobile apps help babies learn their ABCs and 123s? Doubtful, say several child development experts in opinions that could hobble the break-neck growth of the online “baby genius” market. This week, the consumer advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood released the opinions of six experts. Their findings were essentially in agreement: “Based on scientific evidence on how infants learn, I believe that claims that a two-dimensional touch screen app can teach alphabet letters, numbers, and counting from 1 to 10 to babies are inaccurate, seriously misleading to parents and potentially detrimental to infant development,” said Laura Berk, a professor of psychology at Illinois State University.

— Washington Post-Bloomberg

CP
FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 file photo, Frankie Thevenot, 3, plays with an iPad in his bedroom at his home in Metairie, La. As of Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston-based group, is urging federal investigators to examine the marketing practices of Fisher-Price's and Open Solution's mobile apps. It's the campaign's first complaint against the mobile app industry as part of its broader push to hold accountable businesses that market technology to very young children and their parents. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) — CP FILE - In this Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 file photo, Frankie Thevenot, 3, plays with an iPad in his bedroom at his home in Metairie, La. As of Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a Boston-based group, is urging federal investigators to examine the marketing practices of Fisher-Price's and Open Solution's mobile apps. It's the campaign's first complaint against the mobile app industry as part of its broader push to hold accountable businesses that market technology to very young children and their parents. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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