We are bombarded by advertisements every day. Whether they be on television, billboards, our cell phones, the Internet, or the sides of buses, it is virtually impossible to escape some form of marketing on a daily basis. It is estimated that even kids will see, on average, more than 40,000 ads a year. That is why a new initiative is aiming to teach 4th through 6th grade kids the inner workings of advertising.
Sponsored by the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission, the new campaign has a website called Admongo that “ad-ucates” kids. On the website, kids can play a game in which they create an avatar and then travel through various levels collecting ads. When each ad is collected, a window pops up informing the player what the ad is called and what it hopes to accomplish. Although it is a cute, gimmicky way to teach kids about ads, I was bored after about 10 minutes, so I’m not sure how many kids will play the game til the end. But the website is trying to get kids to think about three important things: how to recognize different types of advertisements, how to read, question and understand advertisements, and why it is important to be a smart consumer.
So why is it so important for kids to learn about the ads they’re seeing? After all, most of it is just background noise anyway, right? Actually, studies have shown that viewing ads can have a negative effect on children. We’ve all heard people say that TV is making kids fat, but a recent study shows that it’s not the TV, but the ads that are leading to higher levels of obesity in children. According to The New York Times, the study of 2,000 children, conducted by The University of California, Los Angeles, showed that “risk for being overweight increased the more television commercials a child was exposed to. There was no association with television viewing and obesity for those who watched videos or commercial-free programming.”
Of course, it’s not just TV that’s the problem. As Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science and Public Interest, recently told NPR, “But, you know, even if you turn off the TV, our kids are exposed to billions of dollars worth of advertising. Its on the Internet, on their cellphone, which we give them to keep them safe. It’s in the schools where we’re not there to guide our childrens’ food choices. Parents certainly need to educate their kids and help monitor their media use.”
Teachers need to be on board with the effort as well. Many high schools already have media literacy programs or have English classes where students are taught how to “read” ads. But since exposure to advertising happens at such an early age, we need to start talking about advertising agendas in elementary school, if not earlier. Researchers from Stanford claim that by age 2 children are already forming beliefs about brands. Ads also teach kids (whether intentionally or not) stereotypes (racial, sexual orientation, religious), gender roles, eating habits, and values, all while selling a product.
Efforts like Admongo are great to get kids thinking about advertising, but we need to push the envelope a little further and teach kids to be critical readers of media. At a time when advertisers are spending billions of dollars to market their products, we need kids who can think for themselves and have the knowledge to make informed decisions.
Image via nixter
