Marketing Products to Children
Do you think that putting a child in front of a TV limits their development? Watch a small child watching TV and you'll see a zoned out child.
Kids need to develop hand-eye coordination by moving around, falling down and getting up, jumping around, running.
They need to feel things and learn to express themselves.
The first months of an infant's life is when intellectual, emotional and social development requires engagement directly with their world, their surroundings.
According to experts, kids don't need to watch TV at all.
Many parents (and frazzled stay-at-home-moms) may disagree to different degrees.
Personally, allowing my children to watch some TV is necessary to my sanity.
I do, however, select what I feel is appropriate and try and limit their viewing to programs with no commercials and that are educational in addition to being entertaining for them.
Kids are spending more and more time with media over any activity other than sleeping.
Huge corporate conglomerates own TV, radio, web businesses and film studios - makes it easier for marketers to sell products directly to children.
It's estimated that children 12 and under influence more than $500 billion in purchases every year.
Brand licensing, product placement and even marketing in preschools and day care centers are a few ways that marketing to children occurs.
Day care providers and preschool teachers sometimes use movies and TV to keep children engaged (not in my kid's preschool!) In response, media companies have begun targeting preschools with curricula based on media characters that they tout as "educational.
" If you look you'll find that there are hundreds of videos available that are targeted at babies which claim to benefit their brain development; "Cradle to Grave Loyalty" they call this phenomenon of marketing to infants.
It is up to parents to empower their kids and allow them to grow up without being undermined by commercial interests.
Our children mean more to us than their "buying" power and we as parents need to be more aware.
Each individual family must decide on its own what is best for them and what will work' however, here are some practical guidelines, or suggestions: oDon't put TV sets in children's rooms.
oChoose programs/movies wisely.
oIf you choose to allow your children to watch commercials, be there with them so that you are able to explain certain actions and behaviors to them and answer their questions.
oRation screen time.
oDon't permit endless TV watching; encourage play and other activities.
I choose to have a digital video recorder (DVR) so that I can record those programs that I know my children enjoy watching and which I have deemed to be appropriate and educational for them.
I also try to make sure that their exposure to commercials is as close to null as possible.
We also have a huge collection of DVD movies that are appropriate & enjoyable.
In conclusion, remember - children want and need our love and attention; THAT is the biggest gift we can give our children.
Kids need to develop hand-eye coordination by moving around, falling down and getting up, jumping around, running.
They need to feel things and learn to express themselves.
The first months of an infant's life is when intellectual, emotional and social development requires engagement directly with their world, their surroundings.
According to experts, kids don't need to watch TV at all.
Many parents (and frazzled stay-at-home-moms) may disagree to different degrees.
Personally, allowing my children to watch some TV is necessary to my sanity.
I do, however, select what I feel is appropriate and try and limit their viewing to programs with no commercials and that are educational in addition to being entertaining for them.
Kids are spending more and more time with media over any activity other than sleeping.
Huge corporate conglomerates own TV, radio, web businesses and film studios - makes it easier for marketers to sell products directly to children.
It's estimated that children 12 and under influence more than $500 billion in purchases every year.
Brand licensing, product placement and even marketing in preschools and day care centers are a few ways that marketing to children occurs.
Day care providers and preschool teachers sometimes use movies and TV to keep children engaged (not in my kid's preschool!) In response, media companies have begun targeting preschools with curricula based on media characters that they tout as "educational.
" If you look you'll find that there are hundreds of videos available that are targeted at babies which claim to benefit their brain development; "Cradle to Grave Loyalty" they call this phenomenon of marketing to infants.
It is up to parents to empower their kids and allow them to grow up without being undermined by commercial interests.
Our children mean more to us than their "buying" power and we as parents need to be more aware.
Each individual family must decide on its own what is best for them and what will work' however, here are some practical guidelines, or suggestions: oDon't put TV sets in children's rooms.
oChoose programs/movies wisely.
oIf you choose to allow your children to watch commercials, be there with them so that you are able to explain certain actions and behaviors to them and answer their questions.
oRation screen time.
oDon't permit endless TV watching; encourage play and other activities.
I choose to have a digital video recorder (DVR) so that I can record those programs that I know my children enjoy watching and which I have deemed to be appropriate and educational for them.
I also try to make sure that their exposure to commercials is as close to null as possible.
We also have a huge collection of DVD movies that are appropriate & enjoyable.
In conclusion, remember - children want and need our love and attention; THAT is the biggest gift we can give our children.
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