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— Make Time to Listen; Take Time to Talk
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Make Time to Listen… Take Time to Talk About Advertisements
In today's industrial age, advertisers are getting their messages across to our children more than ever. Commercials, web pop-ups, and magazine ads are the more obvious advertising tactics, but advertisers are now marketing clothing, food, toys, and games that contain logos and other promotions to sway children towards what they should buy, believe, or do. Next time you pass the clothing aisles just take note of how many clothing items advertise the latest food, soda, game, or pop star. Marketing and ads have become so mainstream in our every day lives that quite often we as adults don't even realize that we are being targeted, let alone realizing how often our children are being targeted. Our children are the most susceptible to these advertisements and the most highly targeted, so taking time to address this issue is very important.
A positive first step is to explain why companies advertise and give your children ways that they can approach these ads. Ask them how they feel about the media and try to raise their awareness as to how often they are being targeted. This can be made into a game where you and your child see how many advertisements each of you can count at the store or while watching television. While you do this you can talk about the messages that they are promoting and the pros and cons. It's very important to raise your children's awareness as to what is being targeted at them in the media and advertisements so that they will be less susceptible and feel less pressured. This also will give your children an advantage in the future because at this age, cigarette and alcohol advertisements may not be directly aimed at them, but as they get older they will be, and at that time they will know to ignore the advertisements and not feel pressured. To learn more about this visit http://www.family.samhsa.gov/get/marketingmessages.aspx.
