Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture

What You Can Do

With hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on advertising, it’s difficult to escape commercialism. Nevertheless, there are things parents, caregivers, and concerned citizens can do in the home and the community to stem commercialism’s reach into children’s lives.

At Home

Limit your child’s exposure to commercial influences via the…

Television. The obvious first step is to unplug from the television. Easy for some; for others, this involves breaking entrenched habits. Nevertheless, going TV-free, setting firm limits on the number of hours watched per day, or restricting viewing to commercial free programs or videos is a tremendously effective way to loosen the grip Madison Avenue has on your child. Author and Harvard Medical School Instructor in Psychiatry Susan Linn advises: “Setting limits on television is the single most effective thing we can do to reduce children’s exposure to advertising. In the short run, it’s easier to plop young kids in front of the tube. But it is a choice that comes at a cost.

Computer. The Internet can be an amazing tool, but when kids while away hour after hour staring at a computer screen they are developing unhealthy habits and providing marketers with prime “face to screen” interactions. Set limits on total screen time. Know where your kids are surfing and block inappropriate sites. Avoid unmonitored computer time for young children. Consider keeping computers in well-trod family areas to avoid social isolation.

Mail slot. Avoid teen magazines that promote lifestyles and feature ads that you believe are harmful for your child. Set an example for your kids by getting off junkmail lists (see www.newdream.org/junkmail) and registering on the Do Not Call list at www.DoNotCall.gov to stop telephone solicitations.

Teach your children about…

Advertising. Poke holes in ad puffery and deconstruct marketing messages you encounter. Make a game out of it The I Buy Different website is a great resource for kids to get involved in combating commercialism and learn more about where stuff comes from and where it goes: www.ibuydifferent.org. with your children—helping them discern what’s being sold and how the advertiser is trying to manipulate their desires. For older kids, the book Made You Look by Shari Graydon offers a visually fun, lighthearted, but substantive look behind the curtain of advertising, and will help kids feel more savvy about marketing spin.

Stuff. Teach your kids to be conscious consumers. Talk about where things come from, who made them, what they are made of, and what happens when they are thrown away. Seek out products that are made in a more environmentally and socially responsible manner. Teach them that it is sometimes better not to buy. To learn more about being a conscious consumer, visit www.newdream.org/consumer.

Money. National surveys reveal that kids are leaving high school without a basic understanding of issues relating to savings and credit card debt. No surprise, then, that over the past decade, credit card debt among 18-24 year olds more than doubled.53 It’s important for parents to teach kids about where the money goes. In Prodigal Sons and Material Girls, author Nathan Dungan discusses ways to help children achieve financial literacy and become “savvy consumers who make decisions based on their values.”