health and consumerism
Anxiety, bipolarism, obesity, and depression are some of the long-term effects of an unbalanced media diet, where children partake in increased doses of commercial media, large doses of television, and uncensored internet
viewing. These things seem to be leading to the demise of what many people recognize as “childhood”. The days when children were perceived as innocent angels are no more; we are in an era of “mooks” and “midriffs” where children are exposed to too much too soon. They are so consumed by their lives as consumers that they do not recognize the immediate social gratification is a small price to pay for the mental, physical, and social issues that will come about in the end. The long-term effects of consumerism in children are swept under the rug until it is too late and another kid has been pulled into the never-ending cycle of consumerism.
The well-being of many children is compromised because of the remorseless nature of advertisement companies. These companies do whatever is necessary to get their product recognized, all at the expense of children who
are only paying attention long enough to know what the new cool thing is. The amount of advertisement directed towards children has increased dramatically over the years; this has led to poor social skills, decreased physical
activity, and mental instability in children. Kids are not interacting with other children, instead they are playing video games, watching TV, and surfing the web. The authors of “The Sales Effort” say that many social costs result
from advertising to children. These social costs are more than monetary; they are affecting the well-being of children who, because of the influence of ads, “live to consume”. There are fewer children outside playing which has resulted
in “epidemic levels” in childhood obesity, according to Schor (p. 13). In the opening chapter of Born to Buy, Schor says that instead of cultivating social skills in children, advertising teaches them to consume. (p.11). This has led
to addictions to videogames and internet surfing and consequently poor communication skills among children with their parents as well as their peers.
The levels of anxiety, psychological issues, and emotional issues that develop among children as they try to keep up with all of latest trends in fashion, electronics, and video gaming, have increased rapidly. “Today’s average young person between the ages of nine and seventeen scores as high on anxiety scales as children who were admitted to clinics for psychiatric disorders in 1957” (Schor p.13). This startling statistic gives some insight into how consumerism is affecting the mental stability of children. Children with high levels of consumer involvement also have bad relationships with their parents, which leads to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Children watching countless hours of TV become so concerned about being “cool”, that they are often materialistic and have a greater affinity towards depression and anxiety, and psychological distress (p.174). These children also suffer from envy because they are never satisfied; they worry about what other kids will think about them if they do not stay current with the newest trends. The emotional issues that kids face are directly related to their ability to obtain things and remain relevant by purchasing things or getting their parents to buy things for them. With this in mind, marketers are using peer pressure as a way to convince the “followers” to do what the “trendsetters” and “influencers” are doing (p.198).
Consumption of fast food is only one of the determining factors for childhood obesity; another is lack of physical activity. The lack of physical activity is partially due to obsessive amounts of video gaming and internet surfing. The industry view is that kids should be encouraged to eat (Schor p.41). However, the levels in childhood obesity have dramatically increased. With a greater potential to sell to children and less restriction on advertising for food, fast food restaurants have flourished by targeting children. The advertising strategy used by fast food restaurants has lead to food obsession and obesity among children.
Parental restrictions are not the answer to the issue of child consumerism; it actually leads to more problems among children. Kids will be socially alienated if parents decide to place heavy restraints on consumer and media intake, and children will ultimately be shunned if they are not aware of the newest trends. The best way to decommercialize youth would be to go to the government and the advertising agencies and demand change. Schor believes that if we could get government regulation on advertising and marketing to become more strict, that would be a great start to decommercializing children (Schor p.210). Although there are laws to protect children from advertising and media
companies, there seems to be a low compliance rate with the government, which leads me to believe that many companies are not taking the government seriously (Schor pp.194-195). Changing the way advertising agencies reach children will place less of a strain on parents. It will decrease emotional instability in children whose parents are trying to wean them off unbalanced consumer diets.
Schor found in her research that many parents, in an effort to decrease media intake, have a reward and punishment system for their children (pp.141-143). The idea of a less commercialized childhood is what we are all pushing for but it seems unlikely as advertising companies become more aggressive in their approach to get kids to buy their products.
However, parents, who are truly concerned about the mental, physical, emotional, and social competence of their children and how they will be affected by advertising and consumerism should take initiative. Parents need to support children advocacy groups that are trying to change the way children are targeted by advertisement conglomerates. Parents need to lead by example and show their children that there is a life outside, away from the television set;
and that there is a life away from fast food. Parents need to be advocates for their children by standing in the gap and protecting their children from advertising companies.
viewing. These things seem to be leading to the demise of what many people recognize as “childhood”. The days when children were perceived as innocent angels are no more; we are in an era of “mooks” and “midriffs” where children are exposed to too much too soon. They are so consumed by their lives as consumers that they do not recognize the immediate social gratification is a small price to pay for the mental, physical, and social issues that will come about in the end. The long-term effects of consumerism in children are swept under the rug until it is too late and another kid has been pulled into the never-ending cycle of consumerism.
The well-being of many children is compromised because of the remorseless nature of advertisement companies. These companies do whatever is necessary to get their product recognized, all at the expense of children who
are only paying attention long enough to know what the new cool thing is. The amount of advertisement directed towards children has increased dramatically over the years; this has led to poor social skills, decreased physical
activity, and mental instability in children. Kids are not interacting with other children, instead they are playing video games, watching TV, and surfing the web. The authors of “The Sales Effort” say that many social costs result
from advertising to children. These social costs are more than monetary; they are affecting the well-being of children who, because of the influence of ads, “live to consume”. There are fewer children outside playing which has resulted
in “epidemic levels” in childhood obesity, according to Schor (p. 13). In the opening chapter of Born to Buy, Schor says that instead of cultivating social skills in children, advertising teaches them to consume. (p.11). This has led
to addictions to videogames and internet surfing and consequently poor communication skills among children with their parents as well as their peers.
The levels of anxiety, psychological issues, and emotional issues that develop among children as they try to keep up with all of latest trends in fashion, electronics, and video gaming, have increased rapidly. “Today’s average young person between the ages of nine and seventeen scores as high on anxiety scales as children who were admitted to clinics for psychiatric disorders in 1957” (Schor p.13). This startling statistic gives some insight into how consumerism is affecting the mental stability of children. Children with high levels of consumer involvement also have bad relationships with their parents, which leads to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Children watching countless hours of TV become so concerned about being “cool”, that they are often materialistic and have a greater affinity towards depression and anxiety, and psychological distress (p.174). These children also suffer from envy because they are never satisfied; they worry about what other kids will think about them if they do not stay current with the newest trends. The emotional issues that kids face are directly related to their ability to obtain things and remain relevant by purchasing things or getting their parents to buy things for them. With this in mind, marketers are using peer pressure as a way to convince the “followers” to do what the “trendsetters” and “influencers” are doing (p.198).
Consumption of fast food is only one of the determining factors for childhood obesity; another is lack of physical activity. The lack of physical activity is partially due to obsessive amounts of video gaming and internet surfing. The industry view is that kids should be encouraged to eat (Schor p.41). However, the levels in childhood obesity have dramatically increased. With a greater potential to sell to children and less restriction on advertising for food, fast food restaurants have flourished by targeting children. The advertising strategy used by fast food restaurants has lead to food obsession and obesity among children.
Parental restrictions are not the answer to the issue of child consumerism; it actually leads to more problems among children. Kids will be socially alienated if parents decide to place heavy restraints on consumer and media intake, and children will ultimately be shunned if they are not aware of the newest trends. The best way to decommercialize youth would be to go to the government and the advertising agencies and demand change. Schor believes that if we could get government regulation on advertising and marketing to become more strict, that would be a great start to decommercializing children (Schor p.210). Although there are laws to protect children from advertising and media
companies, there seems to be a low compliance rate with the government, which leads me to believe that many companies are not taking the government seriously (Schor pp.194-195). Changing the way advertising agencies reach children will place less of a strain on parents. It will decrease emotional instability in children whose parents are trying to wean them off unbalanced consumer diets.
Schor found in her research that many parents, in an effort to decrease media intake, have a reward and punishment system for their children (pp.141-143). The idea of a less commercialized childhood is what we are all pushing for but it seems unlikely as advertising companies become more aggressive in their approach to get kids to buy their products.
However, parents, who are truly concerned about the mental, physical, emotional, and social competence of their children and how they will be affected by advertising and consumerism should take initiative. Parents need to support children advocacy groups that are trying to change the way children are targeted by advertisement conglomerates. Parents need to lead by example and show their children that there is a life outside, away from the television set;
and that there is a life away from fast food. Parents need to be advocates for their children by standing in the gap and protecting their children from advertising companies.