BabyFirst/AT&T U-Verse iPad App Named Worst Toy Of 2014

A year after the combination potty/iPad stand took home an award for Worst Toy of the Year, an app from BabyFirst and AT&T U-Verse that your youngsters could use while pottying on last year’s winner has been crowned the worst for 2014.

Beating out impressively depressing contenders like a Girl Scout Barbie and a DIY mini-mall, BabyFirst’s U-verse App was selected as the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s TOADY winner for the worst toy to be dumped on kids this calendar year.

The app, which was launched earlier this year, allows kids to “draw” on their iPads and iPhones (because all children should be in possession of expensive electronics) and have their creations appear on their TV screen.

Voters were not won over by claims that the app encourages children to be creative, saying it’s just a way to introduce more glowing screens to kids at an even earlier age.

“While there’s no evidence that even one screen benefits babies, training them to split their attention between two screens is absurd—and potentially harmful,” explains CCFC Executive Director, Dr. Susan Linn.

“It’s insidious,” says one parent who voted for the app. “It seems creative and interactive, but it’s not the kind of creativity and interactivity that developing babies need.”

While the BabyFirst app had the most votes (33%) of all nominees, it didn’t get a majority, indicating that voters had a difficult time selecting which of the five contenders most deserved the TOADY.

The Girl Scout Barbie came in second place with 23%, followed by the miWorld Mini Mall sets (19%), the Cartoon Network Anything app (13%), and then the LeapBand smartwatch for kids by LeapFrog, with 11%.

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