Media Advertising and Its Influence on Children: In-Depth Information for Educators

Preschool children live in a media-filled world, a world of vivid colors, sounds and images. Most youngsters watch television and Internet. They view DVDs and movies. Many of them play video games. Some of them even use cell phones with screens and keypads. A lot of what they see electronically consists of advertisements interspersed with information. In addition, they constantly see advertising in printed form on signs and billboards. By the time children have reached the age of eight, they are engaged with media and exposed to advertising more than 7½ hours a day, seven days a week. The average child ages two to eleven years old is estimated to see more than 25,000 advertisements a year on television alone. This saturation of media advertising greatly influences children’s desires. Parents who want to teach young children about spending and saving have a challenging task instilling realistic attitudes about money management