Consuming Kids

CONSUMING KIDS: THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER OF CHILDHOOD

By Susan Linn. New Press. 2004. (256 pages)

Subjects: Consumerism. Children & advertising.  Marketing. Parenting.

Recommended for: High school – Adult

 
SUMMARY:

With children as young as two being able to identify brands and express brand preferences, it’s clear that marketers are turning their attention to younger and younger “consumers.” Marketers know that kids influence the spending of their parents – and, that brand loyalty can be established early and forever. Linn’s book explores how marketers are targeting children (at more than $15 billion annually) and how the commercialization of childhood is affecting our youth – and our society.

SAMPLE USEFUL QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:

“Until the age of about eight, children can’t really understand the concept of persuasive intent – that every aspect of an ad is selected to make a product appealing & to convince people to buy it.” (2)

“A few giant corporations control much of what children eat, drink wear, read, and play with each day.” (6)

“Marketing is designed to influence more than food preferences and choice of clothing. It aims to affect core values such as lifestyle choices: how we define happiness and how we measure self-worth. Meanwhile, the very traits that today’s marketing encourages – materialism, impulsivity, entitlement, and unexamined brand loyalty – are antithetical to those qualities necessary in a healthy democratic citizenry.” (8)

“The problem is that while parents are trying to set limits, marketing executives are working day and night to undermine their authority.” (38)

“Is it good for children to equate candy with empowerment?” (102)

“Kids today are so media-savvy, they want everything in life to be interactive, including their food. It has to have great taste, but it also needs to deliver entertainment value.” – marketing executive (100)

“Advertisers treat [children] like things. We inundate them with sexual and violent imagery and we expect the somehow it won’t affect their behavior or values.” – marketing executive (105)

“Adults who drink excessively and underage drinkers account for almost half of all alcohol sales in the U.S.” (157)

“Ninety percent of smokers began before age 18.” (158)

“What we do and do not encounter in media is a conscious or unconscious reflection of some person’s values – including the decision to compromise values in order to stay employed, gain power, make money, have a viable creative outlet, or even to avoid compromising other values.” (176)

“Even if we can choose among a hundred television stations, how much diversity of viewpoint do we have if each of the channels is owned by one of five corporations?” (176)



IDEAS FOR USING THIS BOOK:

1. Explore: “Do commercials tell the truth?”

1a. Find sample commercials promoting products that appeal to your students’ age group. (YouTube or the company’s website might be good sources.) Be sure to include a couple samples that especially “stretch the truth.”
2a. Ask students to respond to the question: “Do commercials tell the truth?” and to share their thinking behind their answer. (You may wish to explore what “truth” is and what it means.)
3a. Have students watch sample commercials and pay attention to the “truth” promoted in them.
4a. Ask students to explore whether those sample commercials told the “truth” or not.
5a. Ask students to consider what they know about “truth” in advertising and compare that to their own product preferences. Why do they have these preferences? (How have the commercials influenced them?)

2. Encourage students to explore the prevalence of marketing/advertising in their lives. Have them list all the places that they encounter marketing every day: the media, product placements in TV/movies, word of mouth, web, magazines, billboards, logos on clothes, toys, etc. And then have students discuss the impact of all that marketing on their lives. How are they influenced by it? How have they noticed others being influenced by it (parents, siblings, friends, etc.)?

3. Show students (or have them find on their own) different products that are supposed to be “educational” (such as M&Ms Counting Book, certain CD-ROM games) or healthy (such as milk, fruit roll-ups, lunchables) or empowering (Airheads, Leggo Kits) and have them breakdown/look at what those products are really offering/promoting.

4. Have students do a similar deconstruction of toys that promote/glorify human destruction. Do these toys have any real effect on our behavior and/or our thinking? What do we say? What do our friends say? Our parents? Other adults? Experts? How might being immersed in a violent and destructive culture influence us without our knowing? How can we resist any violent/destructive influence and nurture/promote a positive/compassionate way of living?

5. Encourage students to explore the power of narrative in the transmission of cultural values. Have them look at/find stories, fables, guerilla theater, ads, music videos, YouTube, songs, etc., and consider: how are we consciously & unconsciously affected by the stories within these media and how do they influence our behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.?

6. On July 26, 2000, numerous medial & psychological organizations (including the American Medical Association & the American Psychological Association) issued a joint statement that said “viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values and behavior, particularly in children” (117).
Explore with students: What is the relationship between media violence and children’s behavior? What are some other contributing factors?
Have them look at news stories and other resources about how some communities have responded to youth violence that appeared to be “influenced” by media. How did they respond? What/whom did they blame? What might have been a more effective response?

7. Using sample anecdotes from the book to spark discussion, have students explore: Where should we draw the line at what is acceptable violence/sexuality for various age ranges? How do we successfully deal with children’s exposure to media sex/violence while dealing with morality, artistic freedom, the role of government in media regulations, free speech, etc.?

“Whether we’re aware of it or not, whatever we voluntarily choose to do, say, or create communicates our values. The converse is true as well. Inaction, silence, and acts of destruction also reflect and express our values.” (175)

8. Using the above quote as a springboard, encourage students to talk about the things that we do, buy, say (or don’t) – what values are we promoting/expressing? Give them scenarios and have them consider what values they’re communicating with their choices. Samples might include:

• Buying a toy weapon (or a real one)
• Playing a violent video game
• Eating animals raised in factory farms
• Not stopping someone from making a racist joke/remark
• Standing by while a classmate is bullied
• Joining in with friends to make fun of someone else
• Spending a great deal of money on a pair of shoes promoted by a celebrity
• Wearing clothing trimmed with animal fur
• Drinking bottled water
• Eating often at fast food restaurants
• Watching a movie that degrades women (or men)
  

9. Have students watch TV during the 4:30 pm – 9:00 pm slot (the time younger children are most likely to be watching) and look at the products being sold AND what values/behaviors are being promoted. (This is a suggestion the author makes for parents to try.) Have them discuss what they discovered. What conclusions might they come to?

10. Compare thoughts about the connection between stuff and happiness with surveys about happiness. Why is it that, once people’s basic needs are met, more stuff doesn’t equal more happiness? If this is true, why are people (esp. North Americans) so intent on consuming stuff?

We also have some free downloadable Humane Education Activities focusing on media literacy and consumption, including:

Analyzing Advertising

Students learn to be ad-savvy by exploring the pervasiveness of ads in their lives and by analyzing what ads are trying to sell…and trying to hide.
Recommended for grades 5 and up.
Time: 45-60 minutes

It Ads Up

This activity explores: How do ads influence us? What strategies do ad designers use to target different groups of people? How can we recognize those strategies and our own triggers?
Recommended for grades 8 and up
Time: 30-45 minutes

Take Two

Unveil the manipulation inherent in marketing and corporate branding and awaken the creativity of your students by having them explore commercials aimed at them and then empowering them to create new commercials with a positive message.
Recommended for grades 8 and up.
Time: Two class periods, one week apart


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Find out more about the author.


Want to submit a teaching idea for this title?

Email: Marsha@HumaneEducation.org

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