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TV advertising blamed for 'material girls'
Many television advertisements are aimed at children |
Children should be protected from television advertising which is creating a new generation of "material girls", according to the headmistress of a leading independent school.
Rosanne Musgrave, head of Blackheath High School and president of the Girls' Schools Association, said parents should do more to keep them away from marketing pressures.
And she urged them to support teachers in instilling children with values which went beyond material affluence.
Speaking at the association's annual conference, Miss Musgrave said it was hard for parents to resist the advertising hype for the latest children's toys and clothes.
But she said advertising pressures were introducing young children to material competition.
"Material goods have already become important to this generation of youngsters. I recently watched an assembly on the topic of jealousy, and in every case it involved material possessions.
Madonna sang about living in a material world |
Miss Musgrave said infants and juniors were being increasingly subjected to television marketing, citing heavy television advertising of toys such as Beanie Babies, Furbies and Tellytubbies.
"If you haven't ever watched weekend morning television, just try it sometimes," she said.
It was an "impossible dream" to imagine that TV would place less emphasis on the latest toys and fashion items.
"But we really do need to ensure that girls and boys as well have opportunities to develop ways of thinking based on moral and personal and spiritual development experiences that are more than just keeping up with the Jonesettes that they are surrounded by."
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16 Apr 99 | Education |
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