Kids Suffer Psychological Effects from EVIL Conditioning Corporate Marketers!!!

"It sounds ominous, and it is... The more involved children are in being consumers, the more [likely they are to be] dissatisfied with life," including having low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, a more distant relationship with their parents, and psychosomatic symptoms, says Boston College sociologist Juliet B. Schor. In her just-released book, "Born to Buy" (Scribner), she details the psychological effects of consumerism on 300 Boston-area 10- to 13-year-olds, the first study of its kind on this age group.

"In a similar study on teens, psychologist Tim Kasser of Knox College in Illinois says students who place a high value on materialism are more likely to have conduct disorders and to engage in risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking, and sex, at early ages...

"In this [shallow consumerism fed to kids by unscrupulous marketers] value system, what gets crowded out is creativity, sharing, kindness, altruism, and compassion," says Linn. She also has a new book for parents, "Consuming Kids, The Hostile Takeover of Childhood" (The New Press).

"As marketers tune in more to childhood development, they're doing a better job of pulling our children in...

"In the face of so much marketing savvy, Linn says, we need to think about the commercial landscape as a huge industry that is working 24/7 to undermine parents and children. "It's a safety issue, like any other safety issue," she says.

"Setting limits is one way to protect children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV under age 2 and no TV in any child's bedroom. For older children, limit it to no more than two hours a day, preferably for all screen-time combined.

"Ultimately, the best antidote is to create a home life where children see more of your values reflected than of consumer values. "As bizarre as it sounds, anchor your family by cooking tasty meals and eating dinner together," says Schor. "It serves as a bulwark, [making] the siren call of the culture not so powerful for them.

"In addition: Instill a social conscience....Avoid logo products, even for babies. When you're looking for day care and preschool, find ones that don't put children in front of TV or videos, and that avoid branded toys. With preteens and teens, talk about the social cost to products. "Marketers can't make much money off a teen with a social conscience who knows that Nike sneakers are made by a [foreign] worker who earned $1 an hour and couldn't go to the bathroom for six hours," Kesser says.

"And if the day comes when your daughter wants Slumber Party In A Box? "Let her know how she is being manipulated," he says. "When middle-school kids realize that some marketer wants them to start a fad so the marketer can make money, they don't feel special anymore. They feel angry.

"Contact Barbara Meltz at meltz@globe.com and join her at noon on the second Wednesday of every month for her online parenting chat at Boston.com. "