Children and Advertising

Advertising is an essential part of our society which surrounds both children and adults in every aspect of their lives. However, advertising is seen as controversial as it relies itself to many concerns, especially surrounding children. The key idea behind advertising aimed at children is whether it is appropriate to advertise for children, who are seen as vulnerable as they are unaware of the implicit messages suggested through adverts.

Gunter, Oates and Blades (2005) raises the serious question “is it fair to advertise to children unless they fully understand the intent of the advertisers”, conveying how children are easily influenced and can be viewed as passive victims as they do not understand the techniques used in adverts, such as stereotypes, the blurring of boundaries etc.. Similarly, Moore (2004) raises concerns about children’s vulnerability being compromised by adverts meaning they then may learn undesirable social values such as materialism. In addition to this, it could be argued that adverts create further problems, such as stereotypes, which children may feel the need to conform to.

Another issues with advertising to children is that as television programmes are becoming more popular with younger children, for example the increase of interest with Cbeebies, there is an increase in opportunities for the advertisements of toys etc. (Gunter, Oates and Blades, 2005). This means that more vulnerable children are being exposed to the power of advertising. Moore (2004) highlights how economists recognise the growing potential of children as consumers and states that television is the most effective medium for advertising to children.

In contrast to this, it can be argued that the use of adverts in the classroom has a positive influence on children’s writing. Burrell and Beard (2010) convey that giving children the opportunity to write and develop their own adverts not only gives them a chance to understand the techniques behind them but also develop their critical reading and writing skills.

Therefore, although it is ultimately parents’ responsibility, as teacher s it is important to educate children about adverts so they are aware of the influence of them, while also empowering children to make their own choices and not be completely influenced by what they see/hear. Marshall (2010) highlights that when children recognise that adverts persuade and understand the techniques adverts use, it marks a specific milestone in children’s literacy. This means that understanding adverts is an important part of children’s education and ensures they are passive victims no longer. Nevertheless, it can be argued that even when children understand adverts and the power of advertising it can still have an effect on them (Marshall, 2010).

 

Bibliography:

-         Burrell, A. and Beard, R. (2010) ‘Children’s advertisement writing’. Literacy Vol. 44 (2), pp.83-90

-          Gunter, B. Oates, C. and Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

-          Marshall, D. (2010) Understanding children as consumers. Chapter 7. SAGE Publications.

-          Moore, E. (2004) Children and the changing world of advertising. Journal of Business ethics, Vol 52, pp 161-167. Netherlands Academic Publishers.