Next week Tuesday (4/20) we'll be seeing the video program, "Consuming Kids," based on the book we are currently reading. After seeing the program, I want each of the families to discuss it in the context of a passage from the book I cited in class yesterday. Susan Linn observes:
"In the long run, our children's immersion in this commercial culture has implications that go far beyond what they buy or don't buy. 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 our 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. Instead of being a mainstay of American life, intensive advertising to children may be eroding its foundations." (p. 8)
I would add to this that you should not only consider how marketing may undermine the creation of a democratic citizenry but also may be undermining the health of individuals as well as the larger society. So, in that broad context, I want each family to identify any FOUR points from the video that support that broad argument. I also want each family to come up with ONE critical point, that is, one point which perhaps Susan Linn overlooked or downplayed which would challenge her argument. This critical point does NOT necessarily have to come from the video itself.
A representative from each family will be called upon to present your family's findings to the rest of the class a week after we see the video (Tues. 4/27). And someone from each family (not necessarily the same person who presents the findings in class) will post your findings as a comment on this blog post. I may use this as a basis for a question or two on the final exam.
This exercise is worth 5 activity points and you have to participate to earn these points.
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3 comments:
YELLOW Family:
1. marketers study and stalk children to better advertise their products
2. baby videos have no evidence of educating children
3. creation of toys is diminishing the imagination of children; the toys and marketers imagine for the children
4.mental disorders are increasing: ADD, ADHD, diabetes, obesity, and bipolar disorder
Critical point: some advertisers would argue that their toys and products are created to boost imagination or intelligence (leapfrog)
Black Family:
4 points in agreement with argument:
1. The message to children is that values and good behavior can be disregarded- just as long as the product they desire is purchased for them. Therefore this also teaches children that things not people bring happiness.
2. Morals are not reinforced for children- in that Barbies are put in suggestive clothing and it's promoted for children to dress in such fashions as well, regardless of the consequences in society.
3. The age for a child to be a pre-teen is slipping lower and children are not allowed to be children, but expected and taught by marketing that growing up as fast as you can is best.
4. Because of the heavy emphasis on indoor games and fast food, children are not shown the benefits of healthy lifestyles.
Critical Point:
The movie made the point that good media is not the anecdote for the bad media, but in our society, the media's influence is inevitable. There is no way around media influence, so why not use it in a positive manner.
The Blue Family said that the four main points we found in the argument were:
1) The way marketers advertise differently to boys and girls: making girls feel like what they wear and look like is what they're worth and making boys feel like violence is fun and the way to resolve conflict!
2) The fact that the "educational programing" for infants hasn't been proven to help anything. In fact, studies have shown that having your child watch TV at such a young age can increase their chances to be ADD, have speech problems, or be obese.
3) That advertising and marketing is transforming the way children play: children don't go outside anymore, they simply reinact what they see in movies and on t.v., they don't learn how to use their imagination and simply depend on technology to entertain them.
4) The concept of Advertising in schools, like the ad for M&Ms that said "Almost as good as straight A's." Because children are almost constantly surrounded by ads, they start to learn that "the goal in life is to get."
Our Critical Point: Advertising CAN have a good affect too! For example, the movie cited a lot of Disney shows that promote consumerism, etc... but those same characters are used in many Disney ads to promote environmentalism, "going green," and conservation. Children see those ads and want to do what the characters are doing too! Another example would be fast food restaurants giving away educational toys, like Chick-fil-a. The children are excited about it, and it is a learning experience at the same time!
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