Spoilt? Or the victim of over-consumerism and commercialization??

It was my son's 7th birthday on Friday and I discovered 2 things about him, and also myself and our spending habits.

I had spent a fair bit of time trawling around the shops trying to find him something. I eventually settled on a large Meccano set of a remote controlled car which you build that has lights and music - not exactly a cheap present (approx $80).

After waiting patiently all day for my husband to get home from work, Jack eagerly ripped off the wrapping paper on his birthday present. The look on his face showed that he wasn't really all that thrilled by his present, but what I found even more disappointing was to hear "where are my other presents?"

I explained that this was his present and that it had cost a lot of money. "Oh..." came the reply.

All over the world, there are far less fortunate children who would be delighted with the most simplest of toys. Yet, here was my child, who when clearly disappointed with my offerings, sat there and without batting an eyelid asked for more. Is my son really that spoilt? Surely not...

I sat down and thought about this. I then remembered all the conversations I had had with friends and family members asking what they should get him for his birthday. Each time I was asked I had answered "I don't know. I had enough trouble trying to find something for him myself!" 

Every suggestion of more Transformers figurines, Lego, computer games for his Nintendo DS or the Nintendo Wii were met with "he already has heaps of those. He doesn't really need anything. In fact, half of the toys he has he never plays with anyway".

I realised that yes, in some ways my son is spoilt. He has pretty much everything a modern child could want, which is far more than what he actually needs. 

There is so much pressure to buy these new fan-dangled toys because you get bombarded with phrases like "but Matthew's got it" and "I'm the only kid in my class who hasn't got one", or my personal favourite "this is the only toy I want" yet when they get it, it sits in the corner gathering dust.

I hold myself at fault for caving in to this, but at the same time, a lot has to be said for marketing and society in general these days for helping to contribute to this. It is very hard in our modern day society to find toys for children which cost less than $30. No sooner have you been suckered into buying the newest and latest thing, than something else has come out to replace it.

Nowadays, the majority of toys do not really allow for children to actually PLAY with them. They have buttons that you push and they move/make noise/flash lights on their own. Children are very limited in what they can actually use their imagination for when it comes to playing with these toys as they are already preprogrammed to do everything with the simple push of a button, leaving the child to simply sit there and watch. 

The most common phrase to come out of his mouth is "I'm bored!" How could he possibly be bored when he has a room filled to the brim with toys? The answer is that there is only so much watching a toy that a child can do before they get bored... which then leads them to want something new to 'play' with.

Also, everything these days is associated with characters from movies, TV shows, sports stars, celebrities etc. The price of toys and even normal everyday items such as toothpaste, clothes, even breakfast cereal is increased dramatically simply because it has a picture of the childs favourite character or celebrity on it.

I came across a documentary called 'Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood' which is a real eye opener.

"Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car.

Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world.

Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children’s marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids."

To watch this documentary, simply click on the links below:

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (Part 1)

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (Part 2)

Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (Part 3)

This documentary has really given me a lot of food for thought about what my children are watching, and what part I can play as their parent in limiting the amount of exposure they have to this sort of subliminal marketing.