Results of Family Activity on "Consuming Kids"

Below are the findings of the two families regarding the video we saw last week, "Consuming Kids." Remember that you need to review this for the final exam, but this will be all you need to know with respect to that video.

BLUE FAMILY (Mary-Elizabeth, Jessica, Kristen)

Our family found that the decrease in creative play in children to be the most destructive. The fact that it has decreased 94% is very disturbing. Products such as video and computer games, movies, toys, etc. have taken such precedence in the lives of children that they do not know how to play unless they have a toy to play with. The imaginations of kids are decreasing as products replace them. No longer can kids just go out in the yard and play, but they have to have toys so they know what to play.

Programs such as "Baby Einstein," which supposedly make children smarter, actually decrease their learning ability. If a child has constant visual stimulation that is always changing colors and moving, it makes it harder for them to hold their concentration later on in the classroom. A child who can't concentrate on the teacher or the lesson can't learn. TV also replaces the relationship that should be developing between a child and a parent. This is a key relationship in the life of a child; not building a strong relationship can be detrimental for both early and later development of the child.


YELLOW FAMILY (Chris, Melanie, Adam, Sarah)

We thought that the movie contained many good points, but after a good bit of debating, we finally decided that the most destructive aspect was that the United States does not have a policy to control or regulate TV advertising to kids. This includes the sheer amount of advertising they are exposed to on a daily basis. The video talked about some experiments done on children for the purpose of being able to take advantage of them. For example, studying their blinking patterns or observing slumber parties to see how they played with certain toys, etc..

The fact that there is no policy in place to protect kids from such manipulative tactics endangers their mental performance, development and stability throughout life. Advertisers only seem interested in wanting to make a buck off of them. So, our group decided that the fact that the United States, in contrast to almost every other country in the world, does not regulate advertising to kids is the most devastating fact presented in the film, "Consuming Kids."