Advertising: An Economics Experiment for Parents

                Many things can be said about advertising. A lot of people feel that advertising has had a negative impact on our society, and will ultimately lead to the destruction of the civilized world. While other feel that advertising that targets it's specific demographic really helps put items into the hand of the people who need it. But what if the targeted demographic is our children? Should we be concerned with our children being the ambition of the advertising community? I think, while in some ways it should be seen with a negative sentiment, that advertising towards kids in some ways is a good thing.

                Since the mid 80's the media industry has steered sharply towards advertising to our kids, bringing them into market as consumers at a young age. While this may sounds antagonistic to the way we want our children to be and act, it may be a very positive start if treated properly. For example a intuitive parent may see this as an opportunity to introduce the child to responsibilities. Many kids today are forced into chores with little to no compensation for their activities, similar in some ways to slavery but legal. Why not derive from this situation the chance to show your kids what labor will buy them. If a kid is given a very clear set of responsibilities to take care of for a set reward at completion then the kid will more than likely happily do them. And you can take it a step further then and set a monetary price per chore and start to wean them off the idea that labor equals products to the far more accurate concept that labor equals money that can then be used to acquire said products. At a young age your child can be many years ahead of their peers who are still aimlessly begging their parents for something they may or may not get. They are destined to enter the world looking to others for their needs, while your kid is forging his own future and knows how to get what he wants.

                A bright child who learns the values of work and income in this monetary world at a young age can expect to be far more successful in life. There has been many studies over the years that paying our kids for good grades increases their level of learning and knowledge retention. And now that the child is set up on a work/reward schedule, you can continue it in their school work. "Statistically speaking, it was as if those kids had spent three extra months in school, compared with their peers who did not get paid," says Roland Fryer Jr. a Harvard economist running studies on monetary incentives for grades.

                It could be said that advertising towards children is a bad thing. But if handled right, the constant income of "needed" merchandise can fuel a creative parent in teaching their kid as a young age that nothing comes free in life. For all reason that people find wrong with advertising and children, let it be known that it can be a good thing too.