Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Children

        2. Having 'cool' and expensive brands correlates to the child's attitude toward money, status, and materialism because they feel like they need those products to make themselves cooler or better than they currently are. Kids who have brand-name products feel like they are above other children who don't have those products. Kids who don't have brand name products could feel poor and mediocre. The media gives the children that brand names connect to status and success. The children would then want to be successful in the world by being able to buy these brands, and therefore having enough money to  do so. They would feel that being successful means having money above all else. Children would also ask for their parents to get them these products, because “everyone has it”, or reasons along those lines. This also contributes to the child not becoming much of an individual.

        3. The values given through the media are more shallow and superficial than values given through family and church. Media values rich, good-looking people over middle-class average-looking people who might have a better disposition. Children would want to be pretty and handsome with lots of money, rather than being a good person with an average pay, who might not be drop-dead gorgeous. Because of this children put themselves ahead of family, friends, and others in life. Their need to become what the media portrays as 'perfect' overshadows their own wants and needs. This means that rather than taking a job that they actually want, kids would take a job that would make them rich. This makes them less of an individual and also makes them have less than perfect social interactions.

        4. Material values lead children to believe that money might actually equal happiness, contrary to the popular saying. They have less intimate relationships with family and friends because they hold themselves above everyone else, but they still feel the need to be liked by almost everyone. They also focus more on trying to be rich, good-looking, and well-liked than they do on having a good work ethic or having good relationships with people, and become more distracted by technology when they should be focusing elsewhere.