How children (ages 1-18) are affected by television advertisements



How children (ages 1-18) are affected by television advertisements

Introduction

As the time is progressing, advertisement companies are allocating more budgets to attract younger generation, specifically youngsters of age group1-18. This is an age group in which children usually feel tempted towards whatsoever is shown to them, but their minds are not that grown up to identify what is right or what is wrong. Advertising on this stage of life has a persistent influence over the minds of children and adolescents. According to a research children in this age group are exposed to around 40000 ads annually only on television advertising (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006). Moreover, to that they are even exposed to ads on billboards, internets, books, magazines etc. They do not see these ads intentionally but rather they are forced to while they are watching television or spending time over the internet. Among these ads are those, which are specifically made for children's, but many a times they see ads that are not made for them. For instance, while watching a television program with their families they may be exposed to ads related to smoking or drinking that are not made for them but still they are exposed to these ads.

Even if it is about the ads that are made for them, they still can cause a negative effect on their minds and change their behavior from normal to abnormal. They may get tempted by a fast food commercial shown to them and force their parents for the food. Huge multinational food chains are also involved in showing such ads to children in whom they offer gifts for having meals.

In the most usual of a case, children and teenagers are not aware of the impact they are having from these commercials. According to Webster dictionary, the meaning of youth is defined as vigorous, lively, immature, and impetuous. This is something that advertisers are aware of and they fully try to exploit the area by developing strategies focused on youth.

Thesis Statement

Children are negatively affected by advertisements

Discussion

Problem or benefit

Children usually have a good memory and they can easily recall something that is shown to them through advertisements. They are able to catch messages that are shown to them but they do not have adequate knowledge or brainpower to distinguish whether something that is shown to them is good for them or not. The interpretation that they derive from the message that is show to them can be adverse than what really was intended. For instance, commercials related to smoking that were previously shown usually included to action scenes form smokers, or depicted smokers as somewhat like super heroes, almost identical was the case with alcohol ads. Even though these ads are not intended for children, but for sure if they watch such ads by chance then they may be tempted towards using them at early stages.

The problem is not that why advertisers are targeting specifically children to increase the ...