I had so much fun poring through the months-long buildup to the recent decision by the French government to ban television channels and programming that targets 0-3 year-olds--or as they're adorably called in French officialdom, "les tous petits." I mean, the entire country's on vacation and they still manage to produce the biggest, officialest freakout of the week? France, this Friday Freakout is for you:
In April, the Minister of Health convened a hearing with an expert panel.
Then in June, as the AP reported, Culture Minister Christine Albanel weighed in in a big way in an interview with le Parisien.
Instrumental throughout the process: the official government-funded family rights organization, Union Nationale des Associations Familiales, or l'UNAF.
In the USA, where the mother does not exist, bacon [heh, a literal translation of "les lardons"] spend two to three hours a day in front of the TV. "The interest of the child that is not what motivates people who make these channels, said [child psychiatrist] Marie-Rose Moro, "of course, it's a commercial interest: it creates need and dependence. "And what do the police, excuse me, the CSA, do? Baby TV and Baby First TV have been very careful not to be broadcast from France and are therefore not subject to its rules, unlike [domestic kid networks] Piwi and Tiji.[ ecrans.fr, eng.]
Another point raised by UNAF : the distribution of television via mobile phones: UNAF demanded that Youth-rated programs not be permitted to be distributed to younger children and that the CSA's identification system be applied to mobile phones."[unaf.fr, eng.]
Je lance pour ma part un cri d'alarme. Quand on lit les études sur le sujet on se dit vraiment : télés pour bébés, attention danger ! [For my part, I raise the alarm cry. When I read the studies on the subject, they really tell me: TV for babies, attention danger !Nevertheless, Albanel didn't call for banning the channels "because they are issued from abroad." Wait, so all this ban stuff only applies to domestic channels after all, and international channels [i.e., BabyFirstTV and Baby TV] just get the warning labels?? [leparisien.fr, eng.]
very interesting + guilt inducing, esp. when they say "in the usa, where the mother does not exist" + it hits a nerve. even though i breastfed on demand for 2 1/2 years + took my daughter to 2-3 outings a day, i did the gateway drugs: baby einstein + pbs shows, to get a shower in (no babysitter ever). now my daughter is a webhog pbs gamer + even though we don't have the disney channel, she's into princesses + i'm trying to shield her from hannah montana as long as possible