Child Consumer Whores - A growing problem?
 

So, after the last real toy store in my neighborhood closed down, to be replaced by an EB, I am left wondering - what kind of toys do kids want this year? Is demand for "real" toys becoming fainter and fainter with every passing year, and with every new next-gen console being advertised? Are kids turning into mindless consumer whores, with our help?

I am under the rising impression that more and more kids choose pre-packaged entertainment like video games, over more active and imaginative toys like constructor sets and action figures/dolls, and I can't help but feel more than a bit disturbed.

- Are adults' choices of gifts hampering kids' ability to imagine and dream on their own, and paving the way towards consumer-whoredom?
- Should they be more responsible in forming kids' consumption patterns, or is it none of their business?
- How can parents and other adults counteract external pressure from advertisers and peer groups? Would doing so be a good thing?

And now its audience participation time! Vote for the kind of gift you are getting your kids (or someone else's kids), or if you can't get anything this year, vote for what you would if you could... and tell me what you think about the premise of this post...

As for me, I have no kids, and I am not planning on giving gifts to anyone else's, but if I did, I'd give Legos.

I have 2 nephews (10, 8), 2 nieces (12, 6)

For the last few years, the boys have wanted nothing but video games. I don't like buying them for them because it allows for no imagination, and no interaction with people. (these boys are both very anti-social, not shy, they just have no desire to interact with people)

my older niece used to love the American Girl dolls, because she liked the stories that went with them, and she thought that the clothes and stories from days gone by were interesting. She also liked barbie, and would create elaborate stories around the dolls. I don't think that Barbie gives girls bad self image problems, and really never had a problem with buying them. Barbies biggest flaw is that she's 40 some odd years old, and still doesn't know what she wants to be (She's been a teacher, astronaut, airline captain, president, working woman, lots of things, get it together girl)

The little niece likes interactive toys, she loved the soccer ball she got last year, and my brother spent hours teaching her to play.

Don't know what I'm getting the kids this year...

Always a book though.

Your nieces sounds like very imaginative kids, Maleficent! Playing make-believe is an important step in socialization and becoming an adult, so when kids choose video games instead, an important part of their development as individuals is merely glossed over, if not completely skipped... I hope your nephews come around eventually!

(I would have included more gift options, but you can only do 10... plus, books should probably be a given anyhow :))

Both my kids are asking for Guitars. Actually felt really good about their request. Their ages are 4 and 5, neither has ever played a video game. I will not have one in my house. They do not have t.v.s in their rooms, they do each have a little boom box. They both love music so I will be getting the guitars. They play outside. Really. They enjoy books they get in the mail from their book clubs. Yes they do get to watch t.v., but not an extended length of time. Both the wife and I have bikes w/trailers and we go for bike rides with the kids. Im pretty proud of them.

as well you should biljan. You sound like a great dad ^_^ I get annoyed at those people that use TV and video games as a babysitter when they are busy.

Biljan, it sounds like you're bringing up a couple of very enthusiastic kids, AND are actively involved in their lives - IMHO, the makings of an awesome parent. :P

If you don't mind me asking, but do you and your wife both work full time, or just one of you?

I find myself agreeing, kids are just mindless consumers, but don't blame them. The people to blame here are the advertisers. Kids just want what the advertisers want them to buy, hell thats their job, so you can't blame them either. As a parant you must influence youreself on the kid. If you can make lego fun for them then it will be fun and so much better than the computer game they have been wanting for ages. They will learn from you, you have to teach the value of real toys. Helping them create their own imagination; create may even be the wrong word as all kids have it, you must just encourage it. Fine if they are slightly disappointed with their gift this year because it isn't a new computer, help them understand the brillance of a load of toys.

I have no idea what i will get this year for the nephew but rest assured it will something that he can play with that doesn't need a power source.

We both work. 4 year old is in preschool 5 year old is kindergarten. So you can imagine how busy we get after school. Weekends, we are always on the move. The kids really love the week-end camp trips. Sometimes it seems theres no rest for the wicked but my kids are not obese video game playing couch junkies. Tonight right now I am actually babysitting a friends 18 month old while the wife is out with the kids to a music concert.

Sunday will be busy as usual, my son gets to rake leaves with me tomorrow then were off to spongebob the movie.

Presents for my boys are always toys that require imagination (lego, wooden blocks, books) I spend a great deal of time with my kids and only a very small fraction of it is in front of tv or video games.

Video games are okay, but most don't teach kids to use their imagination. They are good for hand/eye coordination and problem solving techniques, but you don't have to have the latest console or games for that. I actually prefer play my Atari with my sons over any of the new games.

I noticed it stated before the real problem is advertisements. If you want to see the proof, put a 4 year old in front of a tv and they will tell you they want every toy that there is a commercial for.

If you ask a kid's opinion on toys, they are only going to want what has either been marketed at them or what their friends have.
Get them something you enjoyed as a kid. Odds are good they will like it as well. It's a little known fact that the children of today are considered to be the same species as their parents.

superiorrain, I agree with you, but I think the blame lies more with the parents than with the advertisers. After all, companies will do whatever it takes to make as much money as they possibly can without being put out of business by expensive lawsuits or government regulations.

I agree completely, and, unfortunately this places the responsiblity solely into the parents' hands - many do not seem to understand this, and go with "what's hot" instead (though these poll results show otherwise... but TFP was never a representative slice of the common citizens of everyone's respective countries :D).

biljan, sounds like you're working two full-time jobs instead of one! Good luck :)

If a kid can't have fun with legos, there's a problem.

Im gonna get my 4 year old nephew a motherfucking GI Joe action figure. Go me, the unemployed uncle.

I grew up with video games. I learned my alphabet by playing Sesame Street Letter-Go-Round on my 'rents Commodore 64. I played Wheel Of Fortune with my dad on his old Franklin PC (complete with a 512 K hard drive) when I was 4-5 years old. I got a Nintendo when I was 5. However involved I was with video games, my parents always limited my time with them. I loved to play outside, read, and play with play dough. My parents have a video of my 4th birthday. My uncle bought me a globe, and I was pointing out where his new wife was from (the Phillippines), where they stopped (Guam), and where they lived then (Ft. Bragg, NC).

As for children on my list, well, there aren't any. The youngest one is my 15 year old brother. If there were a younger child on my list, they would either be getting an outside toy or something "creative."

Being a whopping 19, I never had video games as a kid, until we got a computer, and I played those with some regularity for a while. But more often then not, idle time resulted in myself and my brother doing something outside, in the woods, or honestly, reading a book.

Part of that was due to the fact that if we had free time, and my parents were home, my father had us outside helping him on various projects, from firewood, to building boats, to clearing brush.
(He claims that he could have done it twice as fast on his own, but we needed to learn so... )

I bought my first console station at age 17, a game cube... Played heavily for a while, mostly during the winter months, and now I hardly ever touch it.

I loved my legos, and minus them, we used to build pretty elaborate castles out of carboard and tape. Many a stuffed animal exited the window with a make shift paper parachute, and then there were the forts made of rope blankets and beds that spanned our room.

Guess I was lucky.

I work at a board game store. I love my job, I love the stuff we sell, and I love my employee discount. Board games will be recieved by all people, children and adults alike.

It warms my heart that many still kids will not be trapped in a video game world this holiday season.

Unfortunately I suspect that for many families, especially those who are underprivileged, video games are still the cheap, easy solution to keep their kids off the street and out of trouble.

As for my own childhood, I've never had a console. Oh how I wanted one, but my parents forbade it, and gave me legos and various puzzle games instead. I guess that partially explains the way I turned out.... :)