Here’s a reason for wanting a baby that you don’t hear
everyday: “I really want to study him and do experiments with him.” This was the
thinking of Dr. Sinha, an MIT neuroscience professor, upon the birth of his
son.
According to the New York Times, Dr. Sinha is just one of many scientists using their kids as test subjects in large part because “children
make reliable participants in an era of scarce research financing.” Is this creepy or just practical?
Numerous kids of scientists have been instrumental in research on everything from brain scans to the effects of media on children. In an extreme example, scientist Deb Roy recorded nearly 70 percent
of his son’s waking hours for the first three years of his life in order to
study language development.
Many
scientists argue that using their own children as subjects proves the safety of
the experiments: why would they put their own kids, whom they love above all
else, at risk? Furthemore, review boards establish rules for safe experimentation, including a prohibition on
videotaping toilet training, which could prove embarrassing later.
I understand this argument, and don't doubt that well-meaning scientists would never willingly put their children at risk. However, I do question
the ways experimenting on children can affect parent-child
relationships. So does Robert M. Nelson, the director of the Center for
Research Integrity at Children’s Hospital
of Philadelphia. “The
role of the parent is to protect the child,” he said. “Once that parent becomes
an investigator, it sets up an immediate potential conflict of interest.”
Like most parenting issues, this question defies a
black-and-white answer. Some grown children of scientists look back on their time
as test subjects as a fun way to bond with their parents, while others remember
the experiments as stressful, colored by an uncomfortable need to please their parents.
Do you think there’s a surefire way to predict whether
experiments with children will be harmless or harmful? If not, is it wrong for
scientists to use their children in the service of scientific inquiry?
Photo: New York Times
Related Post: Video: Doing Science Experiments on Your Kids
