by Sometimes, the folks over at the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood seem to say, there really can be too much of a good thing. As AllThingsD reports, in this case the culprit is the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat for iPad, which is a bouncy seat that you can use with an iPad from a suspension bar.
The CCFC wants parent company Mattel to stop selling the $80 device, chiefly out of a concern that the three-position seat could hinder the mental development of infants. To that end, the organization has attempted to rally parents and other supporters with a petition to convince Fisher-Price Vice President David Allmark from selling the unit.
As stated by Mattel, the seat’s primary purpose is to “stimulate and engage” babies by letting them watch programs on the iPad, and both the baby and the iPad are protected by a case that surrounds Apple’s tablet. (This means that the potential for interactivity inherent in the iPad is also stunted, since the babies can’t navigate to other apps.)
The problem? The CCFC maintains that the iPad keeps the baby from seeing and interacting with the world beyond, and worse yet, that it encourages parents to let the tablet play babysitter. The CCFC also cites research from the American Academy of Pediatrics that suggests that screen time should be limited for children under two years old.
“To make matters even worse,” the CCFC says, “Fisher Price is marketing the Apptivity Seat–and claiming it’s educational–for newborns.” Josh Golin, the associate director for the CCFC, calls the seat “the worst of the worst” of the growing lineup of screen products for babies.
But the plot thickens. By 2:23 p.m., Fisher-Price had updated a statement relaying that it was proud of the 80 years it has spent making products for children. The statement also had words for the CCFC. “It is unfortunate that factual omissions about the product, such as the mandatory reset feature which only allows for 10 minutes of activity before requiring a manual reset, and parent reviews from those who have actually purchased the product which show strong parent involvement and support, have not been accurately characterized in recent reports,” the statement said. “This seat is one of over a dozen we offer within our current line of Babygear products and this is the only seat with an option for device integration for parents who prefer the technology integration option.”
The CCFC hopes to gather 3,000 signatures before sending the petition to Fisher-Price. As of the time of writing, the organization had amassed 2,696, up from just under 2,000 earlier today.
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