JPTV Jr.: McSelling to Your McChildren

First, it is literally impossible to control all the advertising that a child will see - with billboards and ads on the sides of buildings and vehicles, with commercials on radio, television, and in print. So that's where I would start - with a recognition that my child lives in a world permeated by advertising, and that I cannot completely shelter them - nor would I want to, I see my job as helping my kids learn to interface with the world and deal with its many temptations and dangers. Not to mention product placement within entertainment media. However, I very much agree with your sentiments - let's help our kids avoid as many ads and commercials as possible, especially when they are toddlers or preteens. And have regular discussions to stimulate critical awareness in kids. We get most TV shows we watch on ITunes, or just get whole seasons or movies on DVDs. I hate watching commercials (although some are, I admit, quite funny and clever), and there is no reason for anyone to sit through them, particularly kids.

James - I, like you, use my technology to shield idigress jr. from advertisement as much as possible. I record most of the shows that she enjoys on TiVo and skip through the commercials, I listen to my iPod in the car rather than the radio (she has her own playlist that is appropriate for her), and we watch DVDs. She still catches glimpses of things (Grandma refuses to get a TiVo and Dad's stepdaughters rule the TV at his house) but for the most part - she is unaware of the things that most of her 7 year old peers are into.

We gave away our television five years ago and have never regretted it. Yes, the first few days were difficult, but we adjusted quickly. The kids are doing great and are definitely not the outcasts that my parents feared they would become. If anything, they became the center of the neighborhood social scene. They generally don't clamor for fast-food or toys, and when they do ask for something, it's usually a genuine interest. I highly recommend going TV-free. It's been wonderful for us.

I agree with Shara - its our job as parents to teach our kids how to deal with the world - better they learn now while we can still protect them, than send them out there unprepared. Advertising at preteens and teens is worse than at littler kids. We've taught our 7 year old that ads and commercials are there to make you want to buy their product. She understands enough to "get" that she can't have everything, and that she needs to make choices using her limited resources - When she occasionally says she wants something, we suggest that she can have it if she spends her own money out of her piggy bank, not our money. That really makes her think about whether or not she actually wants it. Sometimes she buys it, but more often she passes. She also understands that her friends will have different things, and thats one of the joys of having friends - you get to play with stuff you don't have.

Uh... I have never seen a picture of Jesus Christ and neither has anybody else.

I just do not see how advertising destroys children.

There are many ills out there in society. A kid asking for some McDonalds should be the least of our worries. If McDonalds was such a horrible place to eat, they would not be the number one fast-food chain on Earth. It is easy to blame McDonalds and other advertisers for making our kids want things. But our own spending and buying habits as parents have a much greater influence than most commercials. When kids see us parents buying more than we need and wasting items, they begin to think that this behavior is correct. Shielding kids away from TV, the internet, radio, and other forms of entertainment that have advertisements is a losing battle. It is better to be a wise consumer and actually teach our children how money works.

I am not a parent but none-the-less I find this attempt to shield children from adds as a bit ridiculous. Advertising is as big a part of the television experience as the shows themselves. If advertising is constantly hidden from children how will they know how to not only recognize it but "read" the both the text and subtext of the add effectively. I grew up on a very restricted advertising diet and as a result I believed every claim and promise of adds I encountered, the more exposed I was to advertising the more sophisticated (skeptical) a viewer I became. I also have got to say I find this post a bit hypocritical as you often write about adds on your blog, and when you do you treat them respectfully and not as the bogyman that lives in your t.v set. One last point the adds you can skip are at least the adds you can recognize how about all the advertising embedded within the programs (I crave a coke every time I watch American idol). I believe it is better to talk about advertising discuss what is being said and what is left unsaid.

If you shield your kids from advertising, you are doing them exactly the same kind of ”favor” that you do if you’re your idea of sex education is only about abstinence.

It cracks me up that all of a sudden McDonalds is the evil empire trying to steal our children. ? I am 42 years old and McDonalds was popular with children (including myself) when McDonalds barely advertised on the four channels we got over the airwaves (pre-cable days for the younger folk). Now it's bad? Everything like Tv viewing, eating at McDonalds or whatnot should be taken in moderation and parents not the TV or government should be the parent. Karen, don't kid yourself, they secretly get their TV fix at their friends house.

Here in the UK it's a little easier with the BBC as it has no advertising. On the occasions we get to watch other channels where the advertising is relentless I always get up and do something else giving verbal views on having seen this advert before. The children soon learn not to mindlessly watch the ads they've seen before.

Tivo, it's brilliant and I don't know how we lived without it. They still catch plenty of ads, but it cuts down on some. And honestly I could care less about that they recognize Ronald, but I get sick of the "wants" and "needs" they inspire.