Ipad嬰兒座椅引發對嬰兒屏幕時間的關注
A newborn baby cannot hold or even swipe at an iPad, but Fisher-Price is providing a way to keep infants glued to the device.
The Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat for the iPad allows parents to strap a baby to the reclining bouncy chair and slip a tablet into an attached case that hovers several inches above the infant’s face.
The seat is chafing parents and child advocates who say the introduction of screen technology so early is harmful to the health and development of babies. Fisher-Price’s seat seems to hit a new low, they say, but other retailers also are promoting holiday gifts that integrate tech into baby gear, even a potty-training seat with an iPad stand.
Fisher-Price’s iPad seat is the “ultimate electronic babysitter, whose very existence suggests that it’s fine to leave babies as young as newborns all alone and with an iPad inches from their face,” said Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), a child advocacy group.
The group on Tuesday launched a letter-writing campaign aimed at trying to persuade Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, to stop selling the seat.
“Fisher-Price should stay true to its mission to foster learning and development by creating products for infants that promote, rather than undermine, interaction with caregivers,” Linn said.
Victor Strasburger, a doctor and professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, said attaching iPads to babies’ seats is “a terrible idea.”
“Does anyone out there think that kids need more screen time?” Strasburger asked. “There is no need to hurry to expose kids to new technology, certainly not babies — or newborns.”
Mattel did not respond to a request for comment on the iPad seat, but the company promotes the seat as a way to entertain and foster a baby’s physical development. Fisher-Price describes the product on its Web site as “a grow-with-me seat for baby that’s soothing, entertaining, and has a touch of technology, too.”
Mattel is already under pressure by the CCFC and other advocacy groups that have complained to the Federal Trade Commission that Fisher-Price’s mobile Apptivity suite of apps deceives consumers with promised educational benefits despite little research having been done to prove that online sites can help babies’ brain development.
Mattel encourages parents to download its iPad Apptivity apps, which it says “feature soft, soothing sounds and nature scenes, black-and-white images and high-contrast patterns that help develop eye-tracking skills.”
Other retailers have created similar products aimed at putting screen devices in front of children at the earliest ages.
CTA Digital’s 2-in-1 iPotty With Activity Seat for iPad allows babies and toddlers to tap away at a tablet positioned in front of a plastic potty-training bowl. The company, which makes accessories for tablets and video games, has a commissioned study on its site that touts the use of technology in child development, including potty training.
“Many young children already love playing with their parents’ iPad, and now they can safely do so with the iPotty,” CTA Digital says on its Web site. “It provides a fun and comfortable place to sit, while learning how to safely use the potty, playing apps, reading books or watching video clips.”
The Brooklyn-based company said that despite some criticism, it has seen a boom in sales of the iPotty. The toilet trainer was first introduced a year ago and has become the company’s second-most popular product aimed at babies and children.
“Most families have technology in the home, and the reality is that kids are exposed already, and parents are trying to find the best ways to adapt into their lives the technology in a way that is safe and thoughtful,” said Lois Eiler, marketing associate for CTA Digital. The company also sells an iRocking play seat with an attached feeding tray that can be replaced as an iPad holder.
The slew of new baby-tech products has drawn criticism from parents blasting CTA and Fisher-Price in ’s customer-review sections. Fisher-Price’s seat had more than 100 reviews, many negative.
“If you want to damage your child’s development, buy this chair,” one reviewer wrote. “Children of a very young age are genetically programmed to respond positively to interacting with PEOPLE. Even if they are just watching the world go by. This is a horrible gadget.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages screen time for children younger than 2, including mobile technology. As companies rush to integrate technology into toys, baby gear and classrooms, doctors and child advocates say children are immersed more than ever in a world of screens. That constant access to games, television and the Internet may be taking away from family time, exercise and discovery in the physical world, critics say.新生兒拿不住，甚至無法刷一臺iPad，但是費雪牌座椅把iPad固定起來，爲嬰兒提供了使用iPad的方法。
這種爲新生兒到幼兒設計的iPad應用配件座椅，可以讓父母將孩子固定在一個斜倚的充氣座椅上，將平板固定在嬰兒的臉幾英寸前。
很多焦躁的父母和兒童擁護者都認爲過早的讓孩子接觸屏幕科技產品對於孩子的健康和成長有害。據說，費雪牌座位似乎又創新低，但是，其他零售商也正在將集成科技應用到嬰兒用品中，甚至是一個帶有ipad的坐便訓練器。
兒童擁護團體CCFC的執行官蘇珊林恩說，費雪牌的iPad座椅是終極電子保姆，它的存在意味着讓像新生兒年紀的嬰兒獨自和臉前幾英尺的iPad待着是可行的。
週二，該集團舉行了書信寫作活動，意在試圖說服美泰，費雪牌母公司，停止銷售此座位。
林恩說，費雪公司應該忠於自己用創新產品來促進學習和發展，提高和撫養人的交流而不是阻礙它。
新墨西哥大學兒科教授維克多•斯特拉斯伯格認爲這種iPad嬰兒座椅是一個“壞主意”。
斯特拉斯伯格問，“有人會認爲孩子需要更多的屏幕時間麼？我認爲根本沒有必要讓孩子過早的接觸高科技，尤其是嬰兒或者新生兒。”
美泰公司並沒有迴應這些評論，而是將這個座椅設計成一個娛樂並促進孩子物理髮展的設備。費雪公司在網站上描述此產品爲“一個伴隨成長的安慰的，娛樂的觸感科技產物”。
美泰公司已經備受CCFC和其他倡導團體的壓力，那些團體抱怨向聯邦貿易委員會抱怨說費雪公司的手機應用軟件承諾有教育性作用來欺騙消費者，而幾乎沒有測試出在線網站有利於孩子的大腦發育。
美泰公司鼓勵父母下載iPad應用程序，被稱爲“特性舒適，音質舒緩，感覺自然，黑白影像和高對比模式來幫助提高眼球追蹤技術”。
其他零售商也已經針對兒童使用創造了類似的產品。
CTA數字與活動的二合一iPotty座位專爲嬰兒和幼童發明的，可以讓他們在塑料的座便盆前面使用平板電腦。爲平板電腦和遊戲機做了很多附件的公司，在它的網站上開始研究科技的使用是否對兒童發展有幫助，包括座便訓練。
CTA數字公司在其網站上說，“現在，已經有很多年輕的孩子喜歡玩父母的iPad了，所以他們可以安全的和iPotty一起玩耍，它提供了一個舒適又有趣的座位，一邊學習如何安全的使用座便，一邊玩應用，看書和看視頻。”
布魯克林分公司認爲，除了一些批評家外，iPotty的銷量已經很有影響力了。座便訓練器在一年前出現，現在已經變成公司針對幼兒和兒童的第二受歡迎的產品。
CTA數字公司的市場助理路易斯•艾勒說，“大部分家庭已經擁有科技產品了，現實是兒童已經開始接觸它們，父母正在努力找到最好的方法來使科技產品更好的以安全和貼心的方式融入他們的生活”。公司還銷售iRocking玩具座位附帶一個餵養托盤,也可以更換成一個iPad支撐器。
大批的新生兒科技產品已經引起了父母在亞馬遜網站上顧客評論上的一陣批評。費雪公司的座位有100多個評論，大部分是負面的。
其中一個評論人寫道，“如果你想阻礙孩子的發展，買這把椅子吧。從遺傳學角度來看，年齡小的孩子是會系統的在與人交流時表現出積極性。即使他們是在看着這個世界。這是個很糟糕的產品。”
美國兒科學會不建議2歲以下兒童有屏幕時間，包括手機。批評者認爲，隨着公司開始將科技和玩具，嬰兒用品和教室結合起來，醫生和孩子倡議者認爲孩子被屏幕世界包圍了。一直接觸遊戲，電視和互聯網會讓孩子們遠離家庭，鍛鍊和物理世界的探索。
