Media Blitz: Children and the Effects of Television Advertising

Watching television is nearly a universal phenomenon for the youth of modem America and other first-world countries. With the viewing of television comes the blitz of commercial advertising. Each year, children are exposed to approximately 20,000 commercial messages, or three hours a week of television advertising (Adler, Lesser, Meringoff, Robertson, Rossiter, and Ward, 1980). Society has two broad types of responsibility toward its youth. First are the precautions set in place to shield children from predatory exploitation by adults. For instance, child labor laws were enacted to prevent abuses of children in the work place. Second, society has recognized its most valuable resource is children and provides special services under the broad category of education. Constructive use of these services facilitate children\u27s mental, emotional, and physical growth and maturation (Melody, 1973)