What Determines Family Values Today?

by Jean Illsley Clarke From Parenting Press ezine, 11/1/08

Too often, it's the entertainment and advertising media, believes Jean
Illsley Clarke, a Minneapolis parent educator and author of several books,
including Parenting Press's "Time-In: When Time-Out Doesn't Work," and
"Who, Me Lead a Group?" She is also the co-author of "How Much Is Enough?"
for which Parenting Press is publishing the Leader's Guide.

Clarke, who has decades of experience, recently visited with the Parenting
Press staff, and expressed her concern about the impact of media on
children, even the very young. A generation or two ago, a family's values
were often influenced primarily by parents, church and school.

Today, however, the entertainment media—especially electronic media of all
kinds—and the marketing industry often have far more significant impact on
what parents and kids believe. These industries tell us that we cannot be
successful, popular, attractive—whatever—without the products or services
they are promoting. They tell us that our self-image depends on these
purchases, not from intrinsic values.

Children are exposed to between three and eight hours of advertising in one
form or another each day, Clarke notes, reminding us that besides such
traditional advertising as broadcast commercials, billboards, soda machine
signage and newspaper and magazine ads, kids are influenced by product
placement (when name-brand products are featured in movies, television and
videos), sponsorships and the wide variety of online ads. Ads in online
games alone will soon be a billion-dollar business. Logos and signage on
clothing are yet another form of advertising.

The result of this advertising? "Fear, uncertainty and doubt: creating the
message that you will not be OK if you don't have this product."

How effective are these messages? Clarke cites one poll that says that 63
percent of American children define their self-worth in terms of what they
own.

If this troubles you, try to take the time to talk about advertising,
product placement, event sponsorships and other forms of promotion with
your family. If you eat dinner in front of the television, for example,
make a game out of dissecting the commercials, identifying the outlandish
claims, or keep score of which program has the most product placements (the
brand-name soft-drink cans, the sports cars, the store signs in the
background).  Ask your kids to show you their video and online games, and
team up to identify promotional techniques. (For example, Nickelodean games
often feature products such as Pop Tarts and Eggo French Toast.) Even the
books for young children are little more than promotional tools for
products such as candy (the "M&M's Chocolate Candies Counting Board Book"
and "More M&M's Chocolate Candies Math," for example).

Links:
   Time-In: http://www.ParentingPress.com/b_time.html
   Who, Me Lead a Group?: http://www.ParentingPress.com/b_lead.html

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