Marketers are intentionally exploiting the vulnerabilities of our children. It's unacceptable. It's 100% within our rights and lies within our responsibility as citizens, as parents and as consumers to set some boundaries on marketing to kids.
* Directly marketing unhealthy food is a direct cause of childhood obesity, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
* Directly marketing credit cards by allowing credit corporations to write the curriculum or put their logo on high school signage or playgrounds or put product placement in their play cash registers is directly effecting kid's knowledge of money and credit negatively.
* Directly marketing to young girls in a beauty-obsessed way and using sexualized images of young girls in marketing and advertising sexualizes girls. It makes them believe it's okay to be consumed.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is making this a bi-partisan election issue.
Our campaign to get Democratic and Republican platform planks to protect children from marketers is gathering momentum. Last week, we met with the Democratic Party's National Platform Director and CCFC members around the country attended local platform meetings to advocate for a platform plank on the commercialization of childhood. This week, we need your help to demonstrate the broad support for these planks by signing petitions to the Democratic and Republican Platform Committees.
Sign the petition to the Republicans.
Sign the petition to the Democrats.
Sign both petitions and let whoever wins know they will be held accountable to you and your kids.
Forward this to your friends so they can take political action to protect our kids from direct marketing.
Why should you care?
Read more about exploitive credit tactics in, I Saw Satan on TV (and he's a little dork)
APA Sexualization of Girls Devastating
Read more about Precocious Puberty, which many experts say is food related both in the way of pesticides, hormones and obesity.
Watch a short film about how we're both allowing marketers to consume our kids and teaching them to be insatiable hyper-consumers at Consuming Kids.
3 comments:
I completely agree, this is a serious issue in our culture. I will definitely sign both petitions and think we should do everything in our power to eliminate the sexualization of our children.
It's also important to recognize and encourage parents to do their part as well. This is something that is especially important in the area of marketing - we need to talk to our children about healthy eating, about why some of the most "fun" looking foods aren't good choices. We need to talk to them about saving and the pitfalls of overspending with credit. Good relationships with parents, self esteem and awareness will help our children resist the pressures of our culture. This culture won't change overnight, so we need to give them the skills to resist the pressures in the meantime.
Thanks for the links, great topic!
This is a good idea. I tried the links but they didn't go through? I'll try again later!
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