Raising kids in today’s noisy, fast-paced culture can be difficult. For good or ill, modern kids are exposed to a wider world.
Over the past few decades, the degree to which marketers have scaled up efforts to reach children is staggering. In 1983, they spent $100 million on television advertising to kids. Today, they pour roughly 150 times that amount into a variety of mediums.
The results of this onslaught are striking. Research suggests that aggressive marketing to kids contributes not only to excessive materialism, but also to a host of psychological and behavioral problems.
The purpose of this guide is to give adults a greater understanding of what children face today, and to offer resources to help parents and caregivers band together to protect children from intrusive and harmful advertising. We believe that it’s important to help children reclaim valuable noncommercial space in their lives—space to be children, not merely consumers.