Two recent articles question the validity of baby educational videos, particularly the Baby Einstein series. The purpose of such DVDs is to enhance a child’s vocabulary between the period of 12 to 24 months, although children, around 18 months, naturally begin picking up words more. Although sometimes these videos turn out to be more effective for toddlers and children under six years of age, they’re pretty much useless, according to these articles, for the age group for which they’re intended.

One story, published in Time recently details a study done by the University of California at Riverside. Researchers had several children, according to the article, watch a Baby Wordsworth DVD everyday for six weeks. At the end of this time, the children were observed again for any changes, particularly the words pushed by the DVD, and the researchers saw no change in the vocabulary. One possible reason? Overstimulation causing paralysis to the child’s brain. The better alternative is to have someone – yourself or another adult – interact with your child, as babies apparently learn better from a live speaker using repetitive speech techniques.

Another article questions why parents buy these videos at all, particularly when a few studies have shown that, after watching these DVDs, children actually learn slower. Perhaps this could a result of the paralysis effect of overstimulation? In either case, children didn’t pick up on new words and actually learned new ones slower than those not exposed to the videos.

Be it Baby Einstein or another series of educational language videos, but these videos designed to make a child get ahead may push a child back farther. Children should be allowed to learn at their own paces and, as researchers have seen by these videos, such tools designed to enhance a child’s knowledge end up being detrimental.