"Schor, an expert on consumerism and economics who teaches at Boston College, has conducted her own research and draws on a myriad of other studies to demonstrate that children are indeed 'born to buy' in the United States. She looks at the problem from several vantage points, with chapters on the history of children's consumption, the content of commercial messages, the omnipresence of advertising, the commercialization of public schools, corporate research, and the impact of advertising on children's health and well-being. She concludes with a chapter that explores how we as a society might start de-commercializing childhood.
"Linn, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is co-founder of the coalition Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children and was recently featured in the popular documentary, The Corporation. Linn starts off describing her experience of spending 36 hours at the fifth annual Advertising and Promoting to Kids Conference, and then covers much of the same ground as Schor.
"Schor and Linn both convincingly argue that things are qualitatively different than just a few decades ago. The purchasing power of young people has exploded, and the amount of money corporations spend on advertising directed at children annually is $15 billion compared to a mere $100 million spent in 1983. The impact is noticeable. Kids spend most of their non-school, non-sleep time watching TV, playing video games, and shopping. As Schor writes, 'marketed leisure has replaced unstructured socializing, and most of what kids do revolves around commodities.'
"According to Schor, 'Kids can recognize logos by 18 months, and before their second birthday, they're asking for products by brand names. By three or three-and-a-half, experts say, children start to believe that brands communicate their personal qualities; for example, that they're cool, or strong, or smart... Upon arrival at the schoolhouse steps, the typical first-grader can evoke 200 brands.'
"There are also the inside stories. Both Linn and Schor have managed to attend marketing conferences and have had very frank conversations with marketing experts. A vice president of marketing at Nickelodeon stated, 'Product preferences develop at a much earlier age than anyone had ever thought... As people begin to understand this, to see how brand loyalty transfers to adulthood, there is almost nothing that won't be advertised for children.'"
"Both Schor and Linn admit that changing the current crush of commercialism will be difficult. Schor hastens to add that 'a different future is possible, too. Parents and children can come together to recapture childhood from the global giants and put in place a culture that is captivating, healthy, and empowering.'
"Linn cautions that while media literacy is 'essential to functioning in the modern world,' it's far from a solution to marketplace manipulation. She believes a focus on media literacy 'places the onus for protecting children on parents, teachers and children themselves' and lets the marketing experts off the hook.
"Specific regulatory proposals by both Linn and Schor deserve support from individual teachers, parents and policymakers, but even more importantly from parent organizations, teacher unions, and religious and community organizations.
"The media reform movement that has gained currency in recent years would do well to see the protection of children as a way to build broad support for reforms that ultimately will protect everyone. Economic life in our society is built around the market's quest to achieve the highest rate of profit possible. Because corporate control of childhood is an inherent impulse in this system, organizations need to build that awareness into their organizing. These two books are essential resources that will strengthen efforts to protect children from commercial exploitation."
-- Bob Peterson, an editor for Rethinking Schools and a fifth-grade teacher at La Escuela Fratney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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