Consuming Kids (summary)

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Technology & Society (HUM110-80)

CONSUMING KIDS
Summary on Article, “Pubic Attitudes Toward the Youth Marketing Industry & Its Impact on Children”

“Few public opinion polls exist concerning the burgeoning youth marketing industry. We therefore conducted an online survey of 978 U.S. residents in the Spring of 2004. Results suggest that a large majority of respondents believe: a) that the youth marketing industry is harmful to children and has questionable ethical practices: b) that the industry contributes to a variety of problems common in youth: c) that most of the marketing which takes place in schools is unacceptable: and d) that marketing directed at children under 8 years of age should be prohibited”, (Kasser and Linn).
This survey was born out of concern that there are few statistics on the effects of marketing industry’s impact on our youth. Just as the article on “Consuming Kids” raises awareness about children being lured into believing they can’t live without things and the problems rising out of it. This survey makes us aware of how this market is willing to sacrifice the sanctity of family life by undermining the parents via their television while children watch mega hours of uninterrupted commercials aimed at them. These surveys were compared with a couple of sparsely completed other ones. The respondents felt that problems such as: aggressiveness, materialism, obesity, lack of creativity, overly sexualized behavior and self-esteem, were detrimentally influenced by the youth marketing industry.

The solutions were simple enough, over half believed that schools should be commercial free zones, children’s television should be commercial free, (PBS has it), marketing to children should be subject to more government oversight, marketing to children 12 and under should be prohibited.
There has got to be a stemming of the tide of the marketing industry exploiting children at such young ages. The survey results suggested the marketing industry’s is compromising its ethics for sales, is potentially harmful, needs regulation, the school should not be the place to market their products, even though the schools say it is helping them financially.

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