Advertisers today exert a tremendous amount of influence on teenagers and children. In fact, they are adept at getting teens and kids to buy their products to the extent that it may even be deemed harmful. Parents need to understand this influence in order to protect their children and circumvent the advertisers’ efforts to persuade their children to buy items that are harmful and/or unwanted.
Advertisers target the teenagers and children in a number of areas. One of those areas is fast food. They convince children and teens to buy fast food that is not always healthy. Furthermore, they increase the frequency of food advertisements during those times when children may be at home, unsupervised watching television. Not only do advertisers place their commercials on television, but also on social media and in print. Parents do not always have the opportunity to limit their child’s viewing of these advertisements. Advertisers have done their job so well on this front that childhood obesity has resulted and is now a national epidemic.
Advertisers send their message of sexuality to children and teens alike. Girls as young as eight are being sexualized, and one company even recently introduced a padded bra for the eight year old set. This is one area that advertisers have breeched good taste and common sense. What eight year old needs a padded bra? Young children live in this society that has been sexualized to almost an X rated society, and children absorb like little sponges everything going on around them. They are more likely to exhibit sexual behavior at a young age by being constantly surrounded by television, print and internet ads which make these sexual images acceptable. Advertisers prey on young children and teens by saturating their ads with images of girls wearing miniskirts, sexy clothes, or even sexy undergarments. In all cases the models in the ads are smiling and surrounded by friends. This sends a message that if girls dress like the models, then they too will be popular and idolized. This is extremely dangerous to the self esteem of these young girls.
Advertisers are overly influential in the way they are able to change the behavior of young children and teens through their advertisements. Children, especially girls, look at how thin the models are and try to look like them. This is the reason that image problems occur and cause girls and boys to become anorexic, bulimic or depressed. Trying to appear cool or popular like the models in the magazines is difficult, especially if one does not look like those models physically. Sexual activity is on the rise and is the result of advertisers showing X-rated commercials of couples simulating sex in condom, shampoo, and even deodorant commercials.
On the other hand, advertisers may not have undue influence over teens and children after all. Teens and children are both very astute and do have the ability to see through what appears to be implausible. Also, parents may simply advocat for keeping a tighter rein on what their children are exposed to. If this happens then the exposure to advertisements is further limited and becomes something that has no influence after all. One other point to make here is that since some children are overexposured to advertising images and commercials, they eventually become inurred to the effects of said advertising. Furthermore, if someone does not have the craving for something, such as smoking, then he or she will never be persuaded to pick up a cigarette no matter how many commercials about cigarettes he or she may view. The same thought may be applied to fast food, soft drinks, etc. Therefore, advertisers lose their hold on teens and children.
Although parents are in charge of their children, it is quite impossible to think of a way to keep them from being exposed to these types of advertisements. In a perfect world, parents could minimize or eliminate exposure, but it is virtually impossible to do so due to the amount of media exposure readily available. Parents themselves may teach their children to make good choices, but, inevitably, advertisers will still be able to reach teenagers and children.
Advertisers exert an inordinate amount of influence over teens and children. With the guidance of their parents perhaps teens and children will be able to thwart the message that the advertisers are trying to send. In this day and age of extreme media exposure, all children will be exposed to the messages of advertisers, but with the help of their parents, maybe they can escape unscathed with their positive image intact.
