In Alissa Quart’s article titled Extreme Parenting, she discusses the phenomenon of parents spending money to make their fetuses and infants smarter. Today parents, especially in America, obsess over making sure that their child will be gifted and successful. Of course, all parents want their child to succeed, but Quart feels like it is going to an extreme that is unnecessary, and sometimes detrimental. After the “Mozart Effect” became popular, the theory that listening to music will somehow make you smarter was translated to fetuses and infants. Companies monopolized on the Mozart Effect and parents’ desire for their child’s success and created toys, movies, and other products that they claim will help a child become smarter. Parents jumped on the bandwagon and bought all of these products because of a study done about classical music and it’s affect on a person’s ability to cut paper. Quart later goes on to explain that although these products claim to stop infant brain cell death, brain cell death is a normal and healthy occurrence that allows the brain to create pathways.
Before I read this article, I knew that when I had children I would buy all of the Baby Einstein products and similar items to make sure my child would have every advantage and become as successful as possible. I never really wondered if there was any actual scientific support to these videos, I just assumed that they were helpful. This article really helped me get a better understanding of these products and their origins. I realized that going outside and having your child actually see things can be a better way to learn than to sit in front of a television.
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