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Cross posted at PhD in Parenting.
I want that
I need that
I like that
I want it
I want that
I want this
That is what the chorus was starting to sound like at our house a few weeks ago. Our kids used to only watch Treehouse (advertising free educational kids television) and PBS Kids (in particular for Sesame Street). But then along came the Retro Toon Channel and we couldn't resist. Of course we'd rather watch Bugs Bunny than Dora and would rather watch the Flinstones than Toopy and Binoo and our kids loved the classic cartoons our our childhood too, so we tuned in, or should I say tooned in. We had a TV in our open concept kitchen, dining, sitting and play area, and retro toons were often on as we went about our day. At first the commercials didn't seem that bad. They weren't targeting kids that much, they seemed to be targeting an older generation. It was commercials for things like skin care products. My son was convinced that he needed to buy Grannie some Proactiv for her birthday, but otherwise the commercials didn't seem to be having much effect on the kids.
But then the Christmas commercials started. Not in December, not in late November, but back in October or maybe even September. And that is when the chorus began. It didn't matter what type of plastic crap was being advertised, they wanted it, they needed it, it was the best thing ever. Couldn't the people that market plastic pink princess garbage be hired to market broccoli?
So last week the TV disappeared. We still have one in the basement, but we aren't watching the Retro Toon Channel. It is there to watch specific TV shows at specific times, like the Madagascar movie night that I had tonight with the two kids, a Saturday morning spent catching up on some classic German kids shows on our imported DVDs, our our little girl's daily date with Big Bird and the gang.
What a difference it has made! The chorus has stopped. Our son still has Christmas on his mind, but at least his Christmas wish list is now coming from his head and his imagination, rather than being beamed to him via 30 second segments designed to warp his mind.
Another sad demonstration of where consumerism has led us
I like stuff. I won't pretend that I don't. But I think I have it somewhat in check. I don't buy brands just for the brand. I don't feel the need to run to the stores and spend, spend, spend when a sale is on. Today was Black Friday in the United States and consumers there took the occaision to demonstrate how crazy some have become. A deadly stampede that killed a store employee at a Long Island Wal Mart and a shooting at a California Toys R Us.
Beyond these hopefully isolated incidents, there is research showing that consumerism is stressful to kids. I know that I found it stressful growing up. It seemed like I was the only girl in my class the year Cabbage Patch Kids came out that didn't get one for Christmas and everyone else had theirs with them at school on the first day back. In high school, I wasn't lacking clothing, but I didn't have Ralph Lauren or Benneton like the rich kids in my class and when I thought I had something nice that looked somewhat like their brand name labels, I would get mocked for trying to be like them.
The article Lunchbox Hegemony: Kids & The Marketplace, Then & Now explores these concepts in particular as it relates to marketing junk food to kids. I found this quote particularly telling:
What is most troubling is that children's culture has become virtually indistinguishable from consumer culture over the course of the last century. The cultural marketplace is now a key arena for the formation of the sense of self and of peer relationships, so much so that parents are often stuck between giving into a kid's purchase demands or risking their child becoming an outcast
