What's the Problem?

“We have become a nation that places a lower priority on teaching its children how to thrive socially, intellectually, even spiritually, than it does on training them to consume.  The long-term consequences of this development are ominous.” -- Juliet Schor, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture

No one said parenting would be easy. Raising kids has always demanded time and energy—to encouraging/reprimanding, hovering/letting go, sheltering/opening doors (closing them, turning out the lights), teaching independent thought/instilling values.

And yet, if it seems that parenting today presents extra challenges, maybe that’s because so many others are out there devoting their time and energy to your kids, as well. Like you, they are trying to instill values. Just probably not your values.

Parents, meet the anti-parents: the new generation of children’s marketers. A quarter century ago, the children’s advertising industry spent a “mere” $100 million pitching products to kids, mainly through television ads. Today, American companies annually aim $17 billion in advertising dollars at kids, expanding their reach through a variety of mediums from TV to the internet to school textbooks. Modern children are inundated with a dizzying array of sales pitches, hawking everything from electronics, to soft drinks, apparel, cosmetics and more.

Marketers are also after younger audiences. In recent years, much of their attention has been focused on “tweens” between the ages of 8 and 12. But advertisers are not stopping there. According to child psychologist Allen Kanner: "The age of the children targeted is dropping rapidly." "It's about 2 years old now."1 Literally and figuratively, advertisers can’t stoop much lower.

This relentless assault on children’s psyches is not good for them. Research suggests that aggressive marketing to kids contributes not only to excessive materialism, but also to a host of psychological and behavioral problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, childhood obesity, eating disorders, increased violence, and family stress.2

We don’t have to accept this as “normal.” As parents, caregivers, concerned citizens, we can and should fight back against the commercialization of childhood.  Together, we can help children reclaim valuable noncommercial space in their lives—space to be children, not merely consumers. To learn more, read our Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture booklet.

Footnotes

  1. Miriam H. Zoll, Psychologists Challenge Ethics Of Marketing To Children, American News Service (April 5, 2000).
  2. Schor, Juliet, Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture (New York: Scribner, 2004), 13.