Please, Don’t Buy A Tablet For Your Toddler
Corporations are corrupting our children. A couple of major brands regulate all of what our children see, hear, feel, and think. Stop signing off your children to business executives that see your youngsters as a couple of money bags in their pockets. As modern culture becomes more absorbed in consumerism, children are suffering from higher health risks and dangerous technology exposure.
Back in the 1970s, concern for children’s advertising was at a high, and the Federal Trade Commission proposed major changes to the regulations. However, companies with much to lose raised $16 million to lobby against them (¼ of the total FTC budget at the time). After Reagan appointed a new FTC chairman, all proposals were killed, and the children’s market has been self-regulated ever since, resulting in the cartoon branded junk food and ridiculous toy ads we see today. (Lappé) In recent history, the public has turned a blind eye to its children in favor of big business and “self-regulation.”
Self-regulation can be beneficial, especially when free-speech is in jeopardy, however young children are not aware of when they are being advertised to, and older children cannot fully comprehend the long-term consequences of a given commodity. In 2009, 97.8% of television ads seen by children aged 2 to 11 years old were for products high in fat, sugar, or sodium. In addition, none of the cereal brands marketed to U.S. children met nutritional standards set for advertising to UK children. Targeted junk food ads are also rooted in historically discriminatory policies, disproportionately targeting black and Latino children in comparison to their white counterparts. One Coca-Cola executive, for example, stated that “86 percent of [the company’s] growth through 2020 for Coca-Cola’s youth-target market [would] come from multicultural consumers, especially Hispanic,” and concluded “focusing on this segment [is] critical to the company’s future growth” (Health Equity). According to the US National Library of Medicine, obesity has risen to epidemic proportions in the past two decades, with the prevalence of obesity more than tripling since 1980 (Barton). Although many factors, such as a Western diet and certain birth conditions, can contribute to the development of obesity during adolescence, the sheer volume of deceptive commercials for unhealthy foods in the United States has had a major impact. Long-term studies following the health of overweight children for more than 40 years show significantly increased risks for a number of diseases (Barton). These companies show time after time that their only goal is to make money and that they will do so, even if it takes harming the most innocent and important group.
The FTC protects data collection of children under 13 years of age through the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, but the immense changes in children’s entertainment following the Internet Age are understudied and overlooked (“Children”). The issue of kids being exposed to deceptive advertisements and harmful content has only heightened with the accessibility of the internet and technology. On the YouTube Kids app, for example, many disturbing and inappropriate videos have slipped past the supposedly child-friendly filters to its nearly 11 million weekly viewers (Maheshwari). These seemingly repetitive and obscure channels rack up billions of views and are faster growing than some top artists and television programs. The most popular of these videos include children’s characters like Spider-Man and Elsa performing acts of shock value such as self mutilation, childbirth, injections, and chemical burning. Although not all cases of companies targeting kids carry the same sensationalism as the Reddit coined phenomenon of “Elsagate,” there lies a larger issue of children spending more and more time in a digital environment that is deliberately designed with the goal of making money.
Sure, it is easy to hand a kid a tablet and have the child quiet and entertained for hours. However, childhood marks a unique time of freedom and exploration unparalleled by any other phase of life. In an effort to escape boredom, kids uncover interests, learn how to work together, exercise their active imaginations, and much more. There are many evidence-based benefits associated with adolescent use of technology, including early learning, exposure to new ideas and knowledge, and increased opportunities for help and support (Chassiakos et al.). While in the past, children could find respite from the advertisements surrounding them, they now possess their own portable advertisement computers designed to be habit-training and addictive. Legally, not much is being done to monitor children’s media, so it is in our hands to set limits for our children and be more aware of what they are watching. Reconsider letting big businesses be in control of what messages our children are fed and what current economic success can cost in the future.
Works Cited:
Bakan, Joel. “The Kids Are Not Alright.” The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/opinion/corporate-interests-threaten-childrens-welfare.html. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Barbie Printed Fun Pop-Tarts. Take Part, www.takepart.com/article/2015/05/13/junk-food-marketing-kids/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2020.
Barton, Mattias. “Childhood Obesity: A Life-Long Health Rish.” Acta Pharmacologica Sinica. US National Library of Medicine, doi:10.1038/aps.2011.204. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Chassiakos, Yolanda Reid, et al. “Children and Adolescents and Digital Media.” Pediatrics, Oct. 2016. AAP News & Journal Gateway, doi:https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2593. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
“Children.” Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/advertising-and-marketing/children. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Computer Addiction- Father Taking Touch Pad from Angry Child Stock Photo. 14 May 2018. iStock, www.istockphoto.com/photos/child-digital-tablet-human-face-displeased?mediatype=photography&phrase=child%20digital%20tablet%20human%20face%20displeased&sort=mostpopular. Accessed 21 Mar. 2020.
Health Equity & Junk Food Marketing: Talking About Targeting Kids of Color. Berkeley, 17 Nov. 2017. Berkeley Media Studies Group, www.bmsg.org/resources/publications/health-equity-junk-food-marketing-talking-about-targeting-kids-color/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Lappé, Anna. “What Ronald Reagan Has to Do with Dora on Your Popsicle Package.” Earth Island Journal, www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/what_ronald_reagan_has_to_do_with_dora_on_your_popsicle_package/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Maheshwari, Sapna. “On YouTube Kids, Startling Videos Slip Past Filters.” The New York Times, 4 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/business/media/youtube-kids-paw-patrol.html. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
O’Mara, Collin. “Kids Do Not Spend Nearly Enough Time Outside. Here’s How (And Why) To Change That.” The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2018/05/30/kids-dont-spend-nearly-enough-time-outside-heres-how-and-why-to-change-that/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2020.
Thumbnails of “Elsagate” Content. Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate. Accessed 21 Mar. 2020.
