Teach about the fib factor
1. As soon as children start watching TV, hopefully not before age 2, teach them about the fib factor: "Not everything you see on TV is true. Sometimes they fib, to make you get your parents to buy you something, even if it isn't good for you."
2. Advertisers plot to have a high "nag factor," where kids nag their parents so much that they wear them down. Media critic Jean Kilbourne eliminated that problem in her family with a blanket rule: "In our family, we don't buy anything advertised on TV." The one exception: milk.
3. Watch commercials with your children. Ask questions: "This commercial makes me think that if you eat at
4. By 5, children are typically influenced by celebrity endorsements. Ask, "Did you know that Brittany was paid to say she likes Pepsi?" Draw this analogy: "You don't like spinach, do you? If I gave you money, would you be willing to pretend you like it? Would that mean you think it's good?" Don't expect her to extrapolate to the next star's endorsement, however.
5. Undo commercials' power by teaching young children to mute them. You can also take advantage of digital technology such as Tivo or Replay TV, which eliminates commercials with a slight viewing delay.
6. Demonstrate to preschoolers some of the tricks of marketing. The more concrete the better. For instance, show how cereal manufacturers use Elmer's glue, not milk, to make cereal look good. Do a taste test with Arthur juice boxes alongside the ones you usually buy. (Cover the boxes with paper and let her taste to see if one juice is better.) For older children, explain about product placement, when advertisers pay for their products to be used on a TV show or a movie so it doesn't look like advertising, and make a game of counting placements in their favorite shows, especially reality TV shows.
7. The typical young child will blame himself when a toy turns out not to be as much fun as it looks on TV. Acknowledge his disappointment but move beyond it so he can be critical and informed, not just unhappy: "I wonder how they made it look like this airplane could fly so high? If you lie on the ground, does it look higher? Do you think that's what they did with the camera, to trick kids into buying it?" Again, don't expect him to extrapolate from this toy to another, but do use it as a point of reference: "Remember how a commercial tricked us before? Do you think this is another tricky commercial?"
8. Websites with information for parents on media literacy: mediaed.org (Media Education Foundation); medialit.org (Center for Media Literacy); acmecoalition.org (Action Coalition for Media Educators), click on for parents; aap.org/family/mediaimpact.htm (American Academy of Pediatrics). 