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The Negative Impact Of Materialism In Today's Youth

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Did you know that American consumers own twice as many cars and eat out twice as much than consumers in 1957 (DeAngelis, 2004, p.52). In today 's society, the drive to accumulate material goods and gifts is rapidly spreading. Many kids and teens these days are becoming more and more focused on the material aspects of life rather than the important non-materialistic aspects. This issue of materialism is becoming a big one and if nothing is done to solve it, America’s youth will be completely plagued. Today, many materialistic kids experience negative effects in life which can be solved by setting boundaries on what to buy and teaching kids true important values. Although materialism has taken this generation by storm, this problem is not a new one. In fact, materialism peaked in the 80s and 90s and kids today are still becoming more focused on the material things and goods in life (Today 's teens: More materialistic, less willing to work, 2013, n.p). This epidemic of materialism has been around in this world for a long time, even dating back to the Pyramids (Reier, 2006, n.p). Generation after generation, many factors have contributed to this worldwide issue such as parents behavior and social pressures. According to Darryl Owens (1996), materialism emerges from increased peer pressure and immense media advertising, but parents values and behavior is crucial as well (n.p). When parents demonstrate materialistic behavior or even show that buying excessively is ok, their kids

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