Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Consuming Kids
After watching the video, respond to 2 of the 4 questions that follow.
1. Do the makers of this video seem to have an "agenda?" If so, what is their purpose?
2. Do you agree with the argument presented in this video, that advertisers are attempting to create a generation of "super consumers" out of today's youth?
3. How has advertising to children changed over the years?
4. With the ability of advertisers to reach people everywhere now (internet, TV, radio, smartphones, etc.), what kind of "consumer culture" do you believe will exist in 20 years - when you are adults, with jobs and children of your own? Will you support the same buying habits in your children that you have now?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Commercialization of Childhood
Ending the Commercialization of Childhood
By: The Alliance for Childhood
The Alliance for Childhood has joined 25 other organizations to form a new coalition, Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children (SCEC), to oppose the ever-growing presence of advertising aimed at children. Corporations now spend more than $12 billion annually marketing to children, according to information compiled by SCEC, which also reports the following:
*Children consume over 40 hours of media a week after school and see about 20,000 commercials a year on television alone.
*Marketing influences every aspect of children’s lives: the foods they want to eat, the way they want to look, how they interact with parents and friends, and how they play.
*Children tend to believe what they see and do not understand that ads are meant to sell them something. They have trouble differentiating between commercials and programs.
*Advertisers work with psychologists to develop marketing strategies that encourage children to nag their parents.
*Ninety percent of Saturday morning TV ads are for foods high in sugar, fat, salt, and calories—and this in a time of growing problems of obesity and Type II diabetes in children.
*Forty percent of fifth grade girls report dieting; discontent about body image correlates to how often girls read fashion magazines.
The Alliance for Childhood joined other concerned groups in a public protest of the Golden Marble Awards, an advertising-industry celebration of “excellence” in advertisements aimed at children. The awards pay no attention to how the products marketed affect children and their families. Past winners, for example, include ad campaigns for violent toys, such as the Alien Autopsy action figure, and makers of food high in calories, fat, and sugar.
In contrast, Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children gave “Have You Lost Your Marbles” Awards to six corporations whose practices are considered especially harmful to children. SCEC also gave positive awards, including its highest honor, the Inspirational Leadership Award to the Government of Sweden for leading the fight in the European Union to ban television advertising to children, setting an example for how individual governments can act to protect children from commercial exploitation. SCEC’s web site http://www.commercialexploitation.com has posted much material about the coalition’s summit and demonstration outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the industry awards were made.
The coalition has grown rapidly from seeds planted one year ago, when three people who were appalled by the Golden Marble Awards decided to protest them. They were Alvin Poussaint, M.D., the prominent Harvard child psychiatrist who directs the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston; Susan Linn, Ph.D., the psychologist and gifted ventriloquist who is also assistant director of the Media Center; and Diane Levin, Ph.D., of Wheelock College in Boston, a psychologist who helped found the group TRUCE, Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment. A full list of the SCEC members with web site links can be found at SCEC’s web site. At this year’s protest, a colorful array of signs, carried by the 90 or so demonstrators, summed up many of the issues in graphic ways. They read:
*Children’s minds are not for sale.
*Public education not corporate education.
*What’s worse than taking candy from a baby? Selling it to her.
*Happy meals are not on the food pyramid.
*Mothers say, Back Off! Let us raise our children in peace.
*Children are supposed to play with puppets, not be puppets.
*Some signs were held by children:
*I am not a target market. I am a child.
*Madison Avenue leave me alone.
*Stay out of my mind.
*Stay out of my heart.
*Stay out of my piggy bank.
The day before the public protest, SCEC sponsored a summit to address the issue of the commercialization of childhood. One of the presentations was by Tim Kasser, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Kasser describes research showing that materialistic values often go hand in hand with a lower sense of well-being. A summary of his research is available as part of the Alliance for Childhood web site.
The declining health and well-being of children is a primary concern of the Alliance. There are many contributing factors to this, but the increase in the commercialization of childhood is certainly a major one. We urge all parents, educators, and other child advocates to speak out now against advertising aimed at children. We also urge every company and every advertiser to establish a firm policy that they will not advertise to children.
Thanks to the Alliance for Childhood for this article from its website. The Alliance for Childhood may be reached at P.O. Box 444, College Park, MD 20741. Its web site address is www.allianceforchildhood.net
Please comment on two of the following questions in complete sentences:
1. This article shows only point of view. What arguments might the advertising companies have in response to this?
2. In your opinion, should advertising companies be held responsible for the techniques and content of their ads? Why?
3. How much of an effect do you think advertising really has on the decisions that kids make? Does advertising influence your decisions?
4. What role should parents play in this? Should they be supervising what their children are watching on TV and teaching them about how to make good buying decisions?
By: The Alliance for Childhood
The Alliance for Childhood has joined 25 other organizations to form a new coalition, Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children (SCEC), to oppose the ever-growing presence of advertising aimed at children. Corporations now spend more than $12 billion annually marketing to children, according to information compiled by SCEC, which also reports the following:
*Children consume over 40 hours of media a week after school and see about 20,000 commercials a year on television alone.
*Marketing influences every aspect of children’s lives: the foods they want to eat, the way they want to look, how they interact with parents and friends, and how they play.
*Children tend to believe what they see and do not understand that ads are meant to sell them something. They have trouble differentiating between commercials and programs.
*Advertisers work with psychologists to develop marketing strategies that encourage children to nag their parents.
*Ninety percent of Saturday morning TV ads are for foods high in sugar, fat, salt, and calories—and this in a time of growing problems of obesity and Type II diabetes in children.
*Forty percent of fifth grade girls report dieting; discontent about body image correlates to how often girls read fashion magazines.
The Alliance for Childhood joined other concerned groups in a public protest of the Golden Marble Awards, an advertising-industry celebration of “excellence” in advertisements aimed at children. The awards pay no attention to how the products marketed affect children and their families. Past winners, for example, include ad campaigns for violent toys, such as the Alien Autopsy action figure, and makers of food high in calories, fat, and sugar.
In contrast, Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children gave “Have You Lost Your Marbles” Awards to six corporations whose practices are considered especially harmful to children. SCEC also gave positive awards, including its highest honor, the Inspirational Leadership Award to the Government of Sweden for leading the fight in the European Union to ban television advertising to children, setting an example for how individual governments can act to protect children from commercial exploitation. SCEC’s web site http://www.commercialexploitation.com has posted much material about the coalition’s summit and demonstration outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the industry awards were made.
The coalition has grown rapidly from seeds planted one year ago, when three people who were appalled by the Golden Marble Awards decided to protest them. They were Alvin Poussaint, M.D., the prominent Harvard child psychiatrist who directs the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston; Susan Linn, Ph.D., the psychologist and gifted ventriloquist who is also assistant director of the Media Center; and Diane Levin, Ph.D., of Wheelock College in Boston, a psychologist who helped found the group TRUCE, Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment. A full list of the SCEC members with web site links can be found at SCEC’s web site. At this year’s protest, a colorful array of signs, carried by the 90 or so demonstrators, summed up many of the issues in graphic ways. They read:
*Children’s minds are not for sale.
*Public education not corporate education.
*What’s worse than taking candy from a baby? Selling it to her.
*Happy meals are not on the food pyramid.
*Mothers say, Back Off! Let us raise our children in peace.
*Children are supposed to play with puppets, not be puppets.
*Some signs were held by children:
*I am not a target market. I am a child.
*Madison Avenue leave me alone.
*Stay out of my mind.
*Stay out of my heart.
*Stay out of my piggy bank.
The day before the public protest, SCEC sponsored a summit to address the issue of the commercialization of childhood. One of the presentations was by Tim Kasser, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, IL. Kasser describes research showing that materialistic values often go hand in hand with a lower sense of well-being. A summary of his research is available as part of the Alliance for Childhood web site.
The declining health and well-being of children is a primary concern of the Alliance. There are many contributing factors to this, but the increase in the commercialization of childhood is certainly a major one. We urge all parents, educators, and other child advocates to speak out now against advertising aimed at children. We also urge every company and every advertiser to establish a firm policy that they will not advertise to children.
Thanks to the Alliance for Childhood for this article from its website. The Alliance for Childhood may be reached at P.O. Box 444, College Park, MD 20741. Its web site address is www.allianceforchildhood.net
Please comment on two of the following questions in complete sentences:
1. This article shows only point of view. What arguments might the advertising companies have in response to this?
2. In your opinion, should advertising companies be held responsible for the techniques and content of their ads? Why?
3. How much of an effect do you think advertising really has on the decisions that kids make? Does advertising influence your decisions?
4. What role should parents play in this? Should they be supervising what their children are watching on TV and teaching them about how to make good buying decisions?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Lord of the Flies quotes
Choose one of the quotes below and for that one:
1. Tell the circumstances surrounding that quote
2. Explain the significance of the quote in relation to the story
pg 103
"However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human ot once heroic and sick."
pg 64
"He capered toward Bill and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness."
pg 62
"Here invisible yet strong , was the taboo ofn the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was consditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."
1. Tell the circumstances surrounding that quote
2. Explain the significance of the quote in relation to the story
pg 103
"However Simon thought of the beast, there rose before his inward sight the picture of a human ot once heroic and sick."
pg 64
"He capered toward Bill and the mask was a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness."
pg 62
"Here invisible yet strong , was the taboo ofn the old life. Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law. Roger's arm was consditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins."
Friday, September 18, 2009
Egyptian Mythology
9th Grade Literature
The mythologies that we have from the Egyptians depict a rich society and developed civilization that created some remarkable achievements. As with many cultures, these stories were a central part of their belief system. In addition to being a part of their belief system though, these stories had a huge impact on their everyday lives for both the royalty and peasants.
1. From what we have viewed in class in Engineering an Empire and read of their mythology, how much of Egyptian society was directed by their beliefs?
2. What accomplishments were a direct result of their beliefs and stories?
The mythologies that we have from the Egyptians depict a rich society and developed civilization that created some remarkable achievements. As with many cultures, these stories were a central part of their belief system. In addition to being a part of their belief system though, these stories had a huge impact on their everyday lives for both the royalty and peasants.
1. From what we have viewed in class in Engineering an Empire and read of their mythology, how much of Egyptian society was directed by their beliefs?
2. What accomplishments were a direct result of their beliefs and stories?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Welcome Back!
This is the official blogging area for Mr. Parker's literature classes. You will be asked, throughout the year, to respond to posts here. This is a fun way to share your thoughts and ideas in a social forum.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Rich!
Eliza's father is quite upset with Pickering for giving his name to a rich, American philanthropist, who left Alfred a large sum of money. This sudden wealth has changed Doolittle's life quite a bit - and his his view, not for the better. Most of us, unless we are already rich, dream of becoming obscenely wealthy so that we don't have to worry about money. We could buy anything we wanted to, go where we wanted and not have to work. What could be wrong with that? Yet, many people that have lotteries or come into sudden wealth report that they wish that it had never happened. Why? They claim that "relatives" suddenly appear, asking for money; sick and porr people constantly request money; their lives change so much, so quickly that they lose their identity; they don't know how to manage money and spend it unwisely and end up poorer than before; their friends become very resentful of their good luck; they move into areas and try to adopt new values and make new friends - inseuccessfully; they become depressed and become involved with drugs and alcohol... the list goes on.
You wake up tomorrow morning and find that somehow, 25 million dollars has shown up in your bank account. The bank says that it is yours and there has been no mistake... In multiple, COMPLETE sentences, tell me:
1. How would you spend the money?
2. How would your life change for the better?
3. What would you be afraid of?
You wake up tomorrow morning and find that somehow, 25 million dollars has shown up in your bank account. The bank says that it is yours and there has been no mistake... In multiple, COMPLETE sentences, tell me:
1. How would you spend the money?
2. How would your life change for the better?
3. What would you be afraid of?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Pygmalion Through the Decades
Shaw's adaptation of the the story of Galatea and Pygamlion has been the basis for a great many stories - the musical My Fair Lady, movies such as She's All That and episodes of popular TV shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the Simpsons and Family Guy. His story line of a person choosing to change in order to be accepted by a "better" level of society and the unforeseen circumstances has remained popular for almost a century and still seems very relevant.
1. Why does this story continue to appeal to so many people?
2. Should this story have a happy ending? Explain how you see the story ending and WHY you thik it should end this way.
3. Is this story realistic? Can people truly "change" or do our personalities and behaviors remain pretty much the same throughout our lives, no mater how much we may look, speak or act differently?
1. Why does this story continue to appeal to so many people?
2. Should this story have a happy ending? Explain how you see the story ending and WHY you thik it should end this way.
3. Is this story realistic? Can people truly "change" or do our personalities and behaviors remain pretty much the same throughout our lives, no mater how much we may look, speak or act differently?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)