The Negative Influence Of Commercial Advertising On Children

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Children, specifically under the age of 18, are very easily influenced. Aside from society, children are being exposed to many commercial advertisements wherever they go. It is unfair to advertise to someone who is incapable of distinguishing the difference between entertainment and advertising. In my opinion, the most damage is done to the brain; it harms a child’s independent thinking ability. Their inability to form their own opinions is because of the mass amount of commercial advertisements they’re being surrounded by, is unethical. They may think negative thoughts about themselves and the world around them, creating a false reality in their mind. Commercial advertisements aimed at children should be banned.
“At age thirteen, 53% of girls are unhappy with their body; this grows to 78% by the time they reach seventeen.”("Statistics on Girls & Women’s Self Esteem...”) Many commercial advertisements are ads that are trying to sell you something to enhance your physical appearance such as makeup, beauty products, or clothes. Besides the materialistic objects, the …show more content…

station that is well known to be a contributor to this issue is Channel One News. According to their website, their mission statement states, “Our mission at Channel One News is to encourage students to be informed, digital savvy global citizens…that broadcasts to nearly 5 million young people across the country.” An example of an advertisement that Channel One broadcasts is a Neutrogena commercial where a girl has some acne and hides herself. The message that the commercial sends towards children is to not accept something that happens to every human. Aside from the 5 million kids who are watching Channel One News, “In 2009 children ages 8 to 18 were exposed to an average of 11 hours of content in one day.” (Junk Food Marketing to Children…) Whether children are surfing the internet, watching TV, listening to music, or just going to school, they are consistently being exposed the

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