Consuming
Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood. Susan Linn. New York: The New Press,
2004. Pp. 288. $24.95, cloth. ISBN: 1-56-584783-0. TEL: 800-233-4830 •
FAX: 212-629-8617
We generally do not review books that are more than a year
old, but I only recently came across Consuming Kids and found it to be just
as timely today as it was when it was published in 2004.
Linn’s focus is the effects which advertising and consumerism have on
America’s kids. “According to a recent poll,” she explains
in her introduction, “90% of parents think that marketing in media contributes
to their children becoming too materialistic. A survey of parents conducted
by the Center for a New American Dream showed that 63% believed that their
children define their self-worth in terms of what they own; 78% thought that
marketing puts too much pressure on children to buy things that are too expensive,
unhealthy, or unnecessary; and 70% expressed the belief that commercialism
has a negative effect on children’s values and worldviews.”
Ironically, though, she also reports that “Two-thirds of children between
the ages of eight and eleven have televisions in their bedrooms, as do 32%
of two- to seven-year-olds, and 26% of children under two.” And, if
this is true of children in general, she goes on to report that: “Poor
children, a population in which children of color are disproportionately represented,
watch even more television than their middle- and upper-class counterparts.”
We have all heard the lament—indeed, many of us have participated in
it—about commercialism aimed at kids. Linn does more than just add her
voice to this general, nebulous displeasure. She clearly articulates the nature
of advertising aimed at kids—how this advertising has changed over time,
and how it poses a threat, not only to the kids themselves, but to our culture
as well.
I remember watching a documentary about advertising, probably 10 to 15 years
ago, and one of the things that struck me was a particular observation by
one of the researchers. He said that, even when we see through the manipulation
of advertising—even when we understand what ads are trying to do to
us, we still respond to them. We may not believe the ads, but we still want
the things they want us to want.
This, understandably, is as true of young consumers of advertising as it is
of adults. Even kids who are skeptical about the truthfulness of ads, Linn
discovered, still covet the things promoted on those ads. She says “A
group of elementary school kids who all told me that commercials do not tell
the truth … had strong opinions about which was the ‘best’
brand of sneaker.”
But what particularly troubles Linn about relatively recent advertising aimed
at children is what she sees as a new trend. She says, “Consumerism
as a value is marketed to children in their toys. For the 2003 holiday season,
Mattel produced at least seven Barbie Play Sets with a shopping theme. In
addition to the one featured on the cover of this book, Let’s Grocery
Shop! Barbie, were Toy Store Barbie, Sweet Shoppin’ Barbie, Shop &
Style Fashion Barbie, Beauty Parlor Barbie, Chic Shoe Store Barbie, and Donut
Shop Barbie.”
Early in her book Linn quotes an excerpt from a 1999 issue of Selling to Kids,
and as soon as I read it I thought back to my last year or two or of teaching:
“Generation Y also has a strong need for community. In order to win
these consumers, children’s business retailers should change their goal
to selling a community experience, instead of selling a product. The retailer
must move to a ‘community’ mentality where the Generation Y consumer
becomes empowered, and they get involved….”
Bingo, I thought. This is the iPod. The last few years I taught at Canton
High School, staff members all had identification cards hanging from their
necks; the kids all had iPods. They were more than just music playback devices.
The kids saw them as one of the tickets of admission to the social mainstream.
Every kid had to have one.
Maybe cell phones are an even better example. Advertisers can easily promote
a community mentality by promoting cell phones, because these devices allow
the kids to stay constantly in touch with each other. The kids’ cell
phone conversations and text messages are no more substantive than their written
notes were a decade ago: “’S’up? Nothin’ goin’
on here.” But, content isn’t the point. Connectivity—perpetual
connectivity—is.
In the final chapter of this book, Linn discusses things parents can do in
their homes, in their communities, in their schools, and in the marketplace
to mitigate the influence of advertising. Since our focus in the Digest is
on education, I will mention here only one of her recommendations for dealing
with advertising in schools.
Her first recommendation is to “Take a long hard look at the kind of
marketing going on in your local school. Are there pouring contracts [exclusive
marketing agreements] with Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Does your school have Channel
One? Are your teachers using other corporate-sponsored materials? [Let me
add here that this should also include materials distributed by military recruiters.]
“Is the administration handing out ad-saturated daily planners? In recent
years, grassroots efforts initiated by parents and parent groups have resulted
in schools and school districts that refuse to enter into pouring contracts
or refuse to renew them, schools banning soda entirely, and schools getting
rid of Channel One. These battles are most readily won by building a base
of support. Try to find parents, teachers, principals, and school board members
who are sympathetic and will work with you.”
My high school was one of three schools on a large campus of about 5,000 students,
collectively named Centennial Educational Park. We had a pouring contract
with Coca-Cola, and it was my understanding that the driver who serviced our
multitudinous machines spent all day, every day there. Money in schools is
tight, and schools across America have similarly compromised themselves by
signing agreements at odds with the best interests of their students. Linn’s
book is a primer on the price we pay for such arrangements.
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