Television advertising directed toward young children (aged two to five) should not be allowed
Today advertising is directed towards people of all ages, even young children below the age of five. During the Christmas period, most of the advertising is directed towards young people in order to make them buy many games.
We can see during some specific periods of the year the massive broadcast of advertising for toys. This makes me thinking that they are really effective, and maybe somewhat too effective. Despite the fact that kids don’t have any money, they have parents that want to fulfill all their demands, and it’s how it has become an effective way of advertising.
In addition, I will say it’s the fault of most of the parents who let their kids watch the television and don’t take the time to be with their children, as kids are often really influenced by what they see. A personal example is my nephew, who is currently six years old and is always talking about the cartoons he watches on television and always asks his father “Dad buy me the new LegoChima, or transformers toy”. In reference to this, advertising towards young children is to my mind a threat, because children are too influenced by it.
Furthermore it’s a type of conditioning. It’s always the same: babies and Barbies for girls and miniature cars and super heroes for boys. It’s like saying to children that girls are meant to do the cooking, to clean up the house and to make babies, meanwhile boys do the other things. It’s a bit harsh, but this is my opinion.
However we must not forget what advertising is made for: To sell products. So, how can we blame the industries targeting young children for their advertising? It’s just a market segment, as there is for all other ages. Is it possible for them to just stop doing advertisements? If they stop, those industries will just lose so much money. This shows us that advertising towards young children will never stop.
In conclusion, I believe that advertising towards children at the age of five or below should be made illegal, even if it’s not possible or just controlled. They have too much influence on kids and although could cause potential harm to them by influencing their way of thinking.