Young children are the most vulnerable to advertising. They are the most susceptible because their minds are immature and are unable to distinguish good advertising versus bad advertising. Television commercials have an enormous impact on young children today. Commercials are one of the main forms of advertisement and many of these commercials are geared towards younger ages.
Patricia Mullenbrock presented interesting statistics in class regarding how the media can affect children's health. According to her research, children watch around 10,000 food advertisements per year on television. The majority of these advertisements are for junk food and fast food. Only 2% of the commercials they watch are for healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Childhood obesity is one example of how these commercials can affect young children in our society. Many of these children have had at least one risk factor for heart disease and have also developed type two diabetes.
"Get fat on Lorings Fat-ten-u and corpula foods"; ...
Children gathering potatoes on a large farm, vicin...
Latino Children Play SwingPatricia also mentioned how commercials can affect a child's character. Children are becoming more materialistic, spoiled and even violent. Children feel they need expensive brands of clothing and the newest toys to fit in with their piers. Parents overextend their budget to satisfy their children's requests. They become aggressive due to violent video games they see on television and play in their homes.
These commercials and negative advertisements can have an effect on a child's behavior in school. A child who has a great deal of aggression is more likely to act out during class time. Their poor behavior can affect their performance in the classroom. Many of these children are not able to work collaboratively with their fellow students. This can create an issue for the teacher as well as the rest of the students in the class.
Parents need to take control of the...