[.ca] Consuming Kids: The Hosile Takeover of Childhood (ISBN 1565847830)

Valid points, terrible recommendations:
I have no doubt that American children are left to the mercy of commercialism to a harmful degree. I'm also disgusted by the sexualization of children. So I'm sympathetic to the author's views on those points. But these are hardly novel observations to thoughtful parents, and this book contributes nothing new to the discussion. The book implodes when the author turns to solutions. Linn cannot imagine that parents are capable of and ought to assert themselves, taking responsibility for proper parenting. To her it is a "societal issue" that should be "addressed" by the State. As the father of a girl of 21 months, I am living refutation of that. I can raise my own child, and I do. I have exceptionally high expectations of my daughter, and she is already an avid book lover and highly verbal. (She doesn't say "hurtie" or a "boo boo," she says "abrasion.") I have no intention of sending her to the horrible public schools that Linn's beloved State already inflicts on children. (Predictably, Linn wants ever more tax dollars dumped into the bottomless pit of government education.) I also want to avoid the abuse heaped on children by psychiatry, such as forced medication of kids disgnosed with the fake diseases like ADHD. Linn is apoplectic about kids being influenced by corporations, but mute about children being forcibly medicated by her professional peers. Linn has no faith in parents, but limitless faith in politicians and bureaucrats, as if people who have never met your child care more than you do. At bottom, there simple solution to the problems Linn addresses. They include turning off the television and setting rules. Reformers like Linn hate simple solutions, so she pushes more State spending and intrusion. Good parents know that regular TV viewing keeps children from developing intellect, character, and talent; so they keep the TV off most or all of the time. And they don't buy their 12-year-olds t-shirts that say "Hottie." You don't need a psychiatrist or a politician to tell you that, you just need some sense, love, and familiarity with the word "no." Utterly missing the point, Linn likes the idea of children watching TV, and wants money -- lots more money -- given to public TV by the government. But it doesn't matter what kids watch on TV, what matters is that the very habit of watching TV makes kids stupid.

All parents and teachers, please read!:
This wonderful book tackles a huge topic concisely and sharply. Linn exposes the many ways children of all ages are marketed to by advertisers (even in our schools) for the sake of naked greed. She also does a fine job of articulating why all of this is bad for children and for society in general, and she backs it all up with evidence from psychological studies. Her tone is not shrill, but there is an urgency to this book that demands our attention; the rampant commercialism that is swallowing our children must be stopped. There is hope, if we start taking some action. Reading this book is a start.

Dangerous Marketing:
Although I consider myself a well educated dedicated parent, and I truly believe in capitalism as the best governing system, I find myself continually challenged as a parent to stick to my ideals and goals in raising my children - particularly with respect to purchasing. Consuming Kids was an eye opener in explaining why this has been so difficult. This book presents well researched evidence anyone can understand about the consequences of allowing advertising and marketing in more and more places - and often aimed at children. Readable, Alarming, and Thought Provoking!

A necessary read:
In the spirit of 'Fast Food Nation', 'Consuming Kids' should be a required text for all high school and/or college students, as well as parents and educators, and anyone else who may be concerned or at least curious about how the media plays a substantial role in the way we form our values.

A good primer on how marketers manipulate children:
This book is a good short course in the shameless tactics companies use to market products to children of all ages. Linn goes "undercover" to a marketing convention and gives the reader an idea of the mindset of the typical marketing person's attitudes. Her undercover reporting along with references to industry journals show the marketing industry's complete lack of regard for how their messages affect children. The book is intentionally short on advice to parents; it's not intended as a manual for how to deal with marketing. Linn repeatedly says how marketing to children results in parents constantly having to say "no" to things. I wonder if this is as big of a problem as the author suggests. We all have to say no constantly to choices that are pleasing but bad for us. Adults know that they must produce a good or service to get money to buy other people's goods/services. This fact of life ought to be explained to children at a very young age. Responsible adults allocate certain amounts of money to each of their needs and wants. Why not give kids an allowance of some sort. If as children they spend it on something they really don't want, it is better that they learned the lesson then than grow up to be adults thinking their existence is defined by much pricier toys. With this lesson children might learn to save their money and only spend on things they really like. They might learn that putting their money toward something they believe in is more pleasing spending it on consumer products. When I have children, I will revisit this review to see if I was hopelessly naive and optimistic about children's ability to make the right decisions on their own. I don't have any thoughts as to how parents should deal with marketing the glorifies violence (including media relations from the US military) (...). These are age-old problems that are intensified by media technology. I think, however, that the same media technology can provide information challenging harmful marketing. I am very circumspect about Linn's suggestion of keeping computers out of kids bedrooms, especially after they have developed critical thinking skills. At some age, hopefully not to young, kids are going to be exposed to all kinds of crap and in the end it will be up to them to make the right decisions. Again, check back in 20 years to see if my take is simplistic. In any case, Consuming Kids is worthwhile to read as a warning about mainstream companies' willingness to exploit children to sell their products.