Effects Of Alcohol Advertisements On Children Essay

, Research Paper

Since the dawn of television, extensive research has been done to determine what effects, if any, television viewing has on children. Much of the debate centers around violent, sexual and immoral conduct within the shows aired on television. However, a less popular issue concerns what effect television advertisements have on young viewers. While studies and research have been done in most areas of advertising, one topic remains high on the list of study and debate alcohol. I believe that this is the most important area of research, as the viewing of such advertisements could have dangerous effects on a child s beliefs and, ultimately, health. Do alcohol advertisements on television affect children s views, attitudes, beliefs and habits concerning alcoholic consumption. If so, what is being done about the problem. What steps can adults take to counter any ill effects such viewing might have on children.

This topic became of great interest to me after I took some time to watch television, trying to see things from a child s point of view. Later, I watched more TV and imagined that I was a parent. What struck me the most was a Budweiser beer commercial, which used methods of advertising that would very much appeal to children. I continued channel-surf, looking now only for the advertisements. The alcohol advertisements bothered me the most. (Some examples are attached to the end of this paper with conclusions I have drawn.) I then decided to research more into the realm of televised alcohol advertising and its effects on children. I didn t expect to find very much, but surprisingly, I did.

In order to fully understand any such effects on children or what, if anything, needs to be done, the habits of child viewers must first be examined. On average, most children watch between three and four hours of television a day, or approximately 28 hours each week. In one year, most children spend 1,500 hours watching TV, compared to the 900 hours they spend in the classroom (Berk, 1994). It seems, through what the statistics tell us, that television gets more educating time than schoolteachers.

This is the reason psychologists have been studying the effects of television content so heavily. Concerns have mounted over the dominance of television in a child s life. The lingering questions remain over whether the tube does, indeed, educate, whether it is teaching the wrong values, and what kind of effects it has on attitudes and behavior.

(A nursery school teacher told me) her children were crudely bopping each other much more than previously, without provocation. When she remonstrated with them, they would protest, But that s what the Three Stooges do! Dr. Benjamin Spock related this story in a book he wrote in 1968, Baby and Child Care, to explain why he considers that watching television violence can lower a child s standards of behavior. As a leader in developmental issues concerning children, he is only one of the thousands that are pursing the issue of television s influence on the young population. Sharing his concern are parents, educators, psychologists, television regulation committees, and even the President of the United States. Scholars and the public alike are trying to determine whether this possible link should be combated by regulation on a higher level than parental control. In answer to these concerns, such technology as the V-chip, which controls the viewing of violence by regulating what the child may watch, has been developed. Also, television rating systems are now in effect to warn the parents of any inappropriate content. However, no matter what measures are taken to control what shows children may view, there is currently no way to determine what advertisements will air intermittently for the duration of the program.

It seems that advertising has not gotten the attention that television programs have due to the fact that they are short in length and aired at random. However, the statistics might put the power of advertisements into a new perspective. On average, a child sees more than 20,000 commercials in one year, equaling about 1 million TV commercials by the age of 21. These are viewed during the average hour of advertisements for every 5 hours of programming viewed (Lesser, 1980). For most adults, who understand the aims and goals of advertisers, these statistics might just seem annoying. We re interrupted that often from the programming we want to watch. However, most children, especially young children, have not yet learned what advertising is all about. They do not yet understand the motives behind advertising and that what looks fun and cool really might just be the opposite.

As early as the age of three, children are able to tell the difference between TV commercials and programs. However, most children under the age of six do not understand that the purpose of these commercials is to sell a product. In fact, it has been argued that until age nine, they don t understand that some advertisements appear to be for a good or fun product, when really they may be commercials for things that are not safe or healthy. In other words, they take what they watch at face value, not understanding underlying motives for making things seem different or better than they are (Berk, 1994). This is probably the main reason that children are vulnerable to the messages contained in public advertisements. Even af