Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood - A Response

The video presentation Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood is a dose of reality about the increasing focus of commercialization aimed directly at children.

In watching this informative video, it became clear early on that from the moment of conception, a human embryo is being targeted as a lifelong consumer.  Additionally, marketing towards the children's market has grown exponentially in the last few years to the point that it is nearly impossible to avoid exposing even infants and toddlers to branded merchandise.  What struck me is that affordable necessities such as clothing, towels, blankets, baby bottles, sippy cups, etc...are all emblazoned with some logo or image associated with a line of other products in an effort to develop life-long brand loyalty.  I found it surprising to hear that not only would it take a great effort to find the equivalent "generic" products without such commercial interests included, but that it would likely cost more!  I can remember a time when it was special to be able to show off a designer shirt or to run around wearing brand name sneakers, and we paid a premium for this "privilege".  Today, one is outside of the mainstream if there is no such label clearly visible on everything we wear, be it in public or private!

It is a near impossible task to purchase baby and toddler necessities without branded logos.

Another eye opening statement was the fact that there is no evidence or study showing improved learning from "educational" videos and games, referred to in the video as edutainment.  In fact, early exposure to these videos may negatively impact learning.  As someone who grew up on Sesame Street in the era before Baby Einstein, I would have thought the merchandise aimed at educating and shaping young minds would be based on the latest research in brain development.

These "educational" videos are not proven to improve learning, and in fact may do more harm than good.

It is sad to learn that toys of the past not only allowed, but required more imagination, which just isn't possible today.  An example of this is the Lego toys of my childhood as compared to the "kits" sold today.  Each kit, like the one below for the "Space" line of products, is designed to create a particular model.  While other items could be created, many of the parts are specific to 1 basic design.  Back in my day, we could choose a "generic" lego kit in which a catalogue of ideas was included, but the pieces lent themselves to creating unique designs on our own.

This highly specialized playset (above) is less useful at developing a child's imagination than the generic Classic kit (below)