Power to the People (In Charge)

I really like how now the American public can rely on the good ol' television set to teach their children everything they need to know. Now, in addition to the squeaky CTW franchises and the sugar-coated cartoons on Nickelodeon, we have a channel specifically geared to babies called BabyFirstTV. With 24/7 programming that changes every five minutes (yes, I said five minutes) that addresses everything from baby signs to counting to art, we can just place our progeny in front of the television set and watch those little geniuses get smarter by the minute. With an automatic breastmilk machine (because, after all, breastfed babies are smarter babies), we'd have a real Boob Tube! Let the baby "soothe itself" (i.e., cry its lungs out) to sleep and we needn't worry about the baby at all!

C&D probably watch three hours of television every week, on average, usually while I am trying to prepare dinner. I think it is too much. There is a wall between the kitchen and living room, however, so it's hard to watch them from the kitchen, and it's hard for them to resist wanting to be where they can see me (or be underfoot). I'm hoping that after moving into a house with an open floor plan I'll be able to cook a little more without relying on the DVD player. (Rachel, I will be in debt to you forever.) Regardless, setting Baby in front of a television is now almost a necessity, born out of our social and cultural givens: Mommy at home (alone) with baby, cooking dinner (alone) in her kitchen, (alone) in her suburban house, on a quiet (and lonely) suburban street. There is no safe place for baby to toddle off to, and no one to watch the baby, so we look for the remote and turn the television on, if it isn't already.

With pressures on mother and baby to be smarter, sweeter, and more savvy than ever before, it's no wonder that DirecTV is offering BabyFirstTV. But an infant-centered television channel reminds me just a little bit of 1984 (the book, not the year). I'm sure any similarities are lost on BabyFirstTV's target audience, but let's think about this. We're taking our most vulnerable minds and exposing them to messaging designed by individuals more concerned with serving themselves than each other: business people (oh, right, and the "education specialists" paid by those business people). In other words, our children are learning precisely the messages that someone thought would ultimately yield the most profit . . . and power. Hmm. Funny circumstance that to turn on the television, you press the button labeled "Power"?