万花筒2007-12-18:Ads' influence on Kids 广告对孩子的影响（在线收听）

“Blue ones.” “I also like the blue ones.” “Oh, look, look, that…” “Oh, yeah yeah yeah…, no no no…” “Yeah!” “I like that one as well.”

They may be entertaining and they may encourage these girls to add to their Christmas present/ list but are adverts really putting too much pressure on children?

you really want them but your mom and dad don't really want to get them for you?"

“And I get quite excited when I see them on tele”

By the age of ten which is the average age of this group of girls, children will recognize 400 brands and watch around 10,000 TV adverts every year.
There are fears that could be leading to the commercialization of childhood as youngsters are bombarded with adverts and media images.The sexualisation of girls resulting in problems like eating disorders and a surge in under-age binge drinking.

“What we are seeing is children some as young as 7, being worried about their weight, they are going to become anorexic, they think alcohol is the way to be really cool and all of the advertisements tell them that this is how they should act.”

So Children's Secretary Ed Balls has launched an inquiry into whether advertising is harming young people

“Let’s look at the detail,the evidence give the parents information about commercialization don't rush to judgement, but it’s important to have a debate about these things.”
The probe which includes internet images is part of the government’s ten-year children's plan,and could result in new regulations on advertising.Critics say labor has already had a decade to put things right, so who knows what adverts these girls will be watching in another ten years.”