Posted on 11/18/2003 12:15:49 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
King Edward VIII of England quipped, "The thing that impresses me most about America is the way parents obey their children." That was almost one hundred years ago, but it certainly applies to today's culture.
Nowhere is it truer than in spending patterns. Many parents these days try to overcome emotional bankruptcy with stuff. On MARS HILL AUDIO recently, Ken Myers quoted one marketing researcher who described it as "guilt money": Parents say, "Here's the credit card. Why don't you go online and buy something because I can't spend time with you."
The results? In 2002 alone, teens spent $100 billion. On top of that, they got their parents to spend an additional $50 billion on them. Over the past couple of days, we've been addressing how the alcohol industry targets kids and how popular movies send the message that having material goods is the ultimate virtue. No wonder advertisements skew young. That's where the money is. Marketers know it. And the results are disastrous.
In her book BRANDED: THE BUYING AND SELLING OF TEENAGERS Alissa Quart writes that "those under twenty-five are now the fastest-growing group filing for bankruptcy." Nevertheless, "financial-services companies now create teenage-oriented credit and cash cards." There is even a debit card for kids that parents can fund through an advance from their own credit cards.
And marketers take advantage of this cash-rich audience. Teen magazines now appeal to "tweens," those between the ages of 10 and 14. And Cartoon Network airs commercials for MTV, a music channel for older teens and adults, during cartoons for 7- to 11-year-olds. In BRANDED, Quart documents how marketers specifically target kids, tweens, and teens -- even at their schools through "sponsored" field trips and school events, like "Coke Day."
Marketers "acknowledge they have an easier time reaching teens because of the teens' increasingly bleak and atrophied familial relationships," writes Quart. "With parents out of the house, the social force of school and that world's currency -- the in group's favorite commodities -- now has a greater importance to teens than ever before."
She goes on to say, "Teenagers have come to feel that consumer goods are their friends -- and that the companies selling products to them are trusted allies. After all, they inquire after the kids' opinions with all the solicitude of an ideal parent."
We do our kids a terrible disservice when we teach them to fill their emotional needs with material goods and when we don't teach them how to just say "no." Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, extols the authoritarianism of a parent saying "because I say so." Responding to parents who question expressing their opinion to their children, she wondered "how the non-judgmentalists expect their children to develop judgment without having observed the process." Well said, Miss Manners.
Christian parents and kids need to stand out from the rest of the culture. Call us here at BreakPoint (1-877-322-5527). We want to send you some information on how you can protect your kids -- not only to teach them to discern marketers' intentions, but to teach them how to say "no" themselves, so they don't become bankrupt before starting a career.
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Attention BreakPoint list members:
For personal reasons I needed to drastically reduce my online time last week. This resulted in me being unable to post the BreakPoint commentaries from the 12th through the 14th. I sincerely apologize for this lapse. If you would like to read them, here are links to them on the BreakPoint site:
Idle Hands and Helmets
Justice That Restores
November 12, 2003
Our affiliate Justice Fellowship has designated next week "Restorative Justice Week." Find out how criminal justice should mean more than time served.
”I’m Glad I Didn’t Kill You”
Forgiveness and Restoration
November 13, 2003
Crime is more than law-breaking. Crime is the shattering of lives, and a biblical approach to crime involves repairing that damage.
It’s All About Profit
Exploiting Kids for Cash
November 14, 2003
It turns out that, if you want to know which magazines appeal to teenagers, all you have to do is count the beer and liquor ads. The more ads, the greater appeal.
Teenagers have come to feel that consumer goods are their friends
Insane teenagers feel that way.
"Only you truly understand me, Sony portable CD player."
Y'know, maybe I'm developing a one-track mind, but that sounds like one of your home run Caption-A-Rama captions.
Seconded. When my kids are old enough, they're getting a framed copy of Kipling's "The Mary Gloster." Sort of a hymn to capitalism.
Yeah, not like the old days when we had healthy relationships with our hotrodded 68 mustangs, our surplus M1 Carbines, and that hidden Penthouse collection....
You do all the heavy lifting. BTW, Mandela's brain sucker caption was a classic.
LOL!
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