TIPS FOR PARENTING

IN A
COMMERCIAL CULTURE

“W E GIVE THANKS FOR OUR CHILDREN . M AY WE CONTINUE TO BE BLESSED

BY THEIR SIMPLE WONDER SO THAT WE MIGHT NOT TAKE FOR GRANTED

ONE SINGLE MOMENT OF THIS MIRACLE TO WHICH WE ’ VE BEEN BORN .”

– S TEVE M YRVANG

Center for a New American Dream

www.newdream.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROTECTING OUR KIDS
Cradle to Grave Brand Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Kids’ Spending and the “Nag Factor” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Where Does the Sales Pitch Happen? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
On-Screen Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Advertising in Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Channel One — Captive Kids, Lost Time . . . . . . . . . . .8
THE IMPACT OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE ON KIDS
The Psychological and Physical Effects of the Tube . . .9
Growing Up Too Quickly — The Lost Art of Play . . . .10
Our Overbooked Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Poor Money Management Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Low-Income Families, Immigrant Families and the
Pressure to Consume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
POSITIVE STEPS FOR PARENTS
Taming Tube Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Commercial-Free Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Healthy Choices for Healthy Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Eco-Responsible Consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Creative Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Guard Your Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Shopping, Money and “Stuff” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Your Children (and You) Are More than a Brand . . . .21
Remembering Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
SO WHAT DO KIDS REALLY WANT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
YOU ARE NOT ALONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
What You Do Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
RESOURCES FOR PARENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
The Center for a New American Dream . . . . . . . . . . .25
PROTECTING OUR KIDS
O ur children are a blessing. They remind us that the world
is full of wonder and possibility. They make us laugh,
exhaust us with their endless questions and needs and
evoke indescribable feelings of love. We dedicate ourselves
to their well being and we try to instill
within them wholesome values, inde-
pendent thinking and a dedication
to the common good.
Our children are also a chal-
lenge. It goes without saying that
raising kids in today’s noisy, fast-
paced culture is difficult. For good or
ill, kids today are exposed to a wider world. The voices of
home and community have been joined by a chorus of voic-
es from around the globe, clamoring for our children’s
attention. Unfortunately, an increasing number of those
voices are trying to sell them something. A new generation
of hyper-consumers is growing up right in front of our eyes.

CRADLE TO GRAVE BRAND CONSCIOUSNESS

Virtually from birth, today’s children are exposed to TV
commercials, banner ads, billboards, logos and product
placements. In what is called “cradle to grave” marketing,
advertisers openly court children on an unprecedented
scale, rushing to create brand loyalties the minute a child is
old enough to distinguish company logos or recite product
jingles.
“My two-year old can barely speak, yet when she sees a
toy commercial she clearly states, ‘I want that,’” says
Michelle Payne of Washington.
Advertisers are targeting kids today because that’s where

4 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
the seeds of hyper-consumerism are planted. The evidence
is obvious:

◆ At six months of age, the same age they are imitating

simple sounds like “ma-ma,” babies are forming mental
images of corporate logos and mascots.1
◆ According to recent marketing industry studies, a per-
son’s “brand loyalty” may begin as early as age two.2

◆ At three years of age, before they can read, one out of

five American children is already making specific requests
for brand-name products.3

KIDS’ SPENDING AND THE “NAG FACTOR”

Few people take the power of children more seriously
than advertising executives. Marketers are interested in
children both as consumers and for the enormous influence
they have on their parents’ buying patterns.
◆ Kids’ spending is skyrocketing. In 1991, children aged
four to 12 spent $8.6 billion of their own money each year.4
By 1999, four- to 12-year-olds took in $31.3 billion in
income from allowance, jobs and gifts, and spent 92 percent

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 5
of it.5 In 2001, teenagers spent $172 billion.6
◆ Children are exhibiting extraordinary influence over their
parents’ spending. Twenty years ago, children aged four to
12 influenced about $50 billion of their parents’ purchases.
By 2001, that figure reached an estimated $300 billion.
Marketers call this influence the “nag factor” or “pester
power.”7

WHERE DOES THE SALES PITCH HAPPEN?

Most kids spend the bulk of their time in one of three
places — parked in front of a TV or a computer, or sitting in
a classroom. Is it any wonder that advertisers make their
biggest pitches in these places?

On Screen Advertising
Whether it’s through televisions or computers, American
children get a lot of screen time (four and a half hours a
day!),8 and these screens are full of advertising. A lot of
these advertisements are aimed specifically at children.
Thousands of other ads — both on the web and on TV —
are aimed at adults but absorbed by kids.

◆ The average American child aged 2 to 17 watches 17

hours, 30 minutes of TV per week.9
◆ On average, American children view over 20,000 TV
commercials each year, which works out to well over 50 TV
ads a day.10
◆ The average American child aged 2-18
spends nearly five and a half hours a day
out of school consuming media in the
form of TV, music, magazines, video
games and the internet, amounting to
what Kaiser Family Foundation
president Drew Altman refers to

6 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
as “a full time job for the typical American child.”11
◆ Children between the ages of five and 18 will spend an
estimated $1.3 billion online by 2002.12

Advertising in Schools
Parents can see how much advertising comes at their
kids from TV and the web. What they can’t see is how much
advertising kids are exposed to during school hours, a time
that is supposed to be set aside for learning. How much
commercialism is in our schools? A lot. Over the past
decade, advertisers have become much more sophisticated
at targeting kids in school.
While there have been some successful cases of commu-
nities pushing back, the trend toward commercialized
school environments continues. Sports uniforms are covered
with logos. Textbooks are filled with brand names. Soda and
candy machines in the hallways and fast food vendors in the
cafeteria are commonplace. Some school curriculums even
contain corporate-sponsored “lessons” that tout the so-
called environmental benefits of the oil industry, the timber

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 7
industry, the nuclear energy industry and the pesticide
industry. And millions of children spend part
of their school day watching commer-
cials for junk food, teen fashion
and violent films via Channel
One’s in-school television net-
work.

Channel One—Captive Kids,

Lost Time
Students in schools with
Channel One, a twelve-minute
news and advertising televi-
sion program viewed daily
in 12,000 middle and
high schools across the
country, are required to
watch the program on nine
out of ten school days. In
return for requiring students to watch
TV during class time, Channel One provides the schools
with video equipment.
It’s not so clear that schools profit from this arrange-
ment. The hidden costs in lost class time appear to far out-
weigh the free hardware a school might receive. Research
reveals that taxpayers in the U.S. pay $1.8 billion dollars
per year for the class time lost to Channel One.13 And even
more disturbingly, kids who should be in school to seek
knowledge and stimulate critical thinking are instead a cap-
tive audience for a company whose prime aim is to coax
them to buy.

8 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
 THE IMPACT OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE
ON KIDS
“
I ’m quite concerned that kids (and adults) today are equat-
ing money with success and happiness. I was appalled
when my nine-year-old daughter asked her grandmother
how much her birthday gift cost.” Dave Johns, Oregon.
We all want to steer our children toward positive,
healthy sources of fulfillment, but it’s not easy. Money can’t
buy you love, friends or happiness, but advertisers want us
to think that it can, and many children are simply too young
to separate the hype from reality. According to a recent
Junior Achievement poll, 43% of teenagers associated the
American Dream with accumulation of material posses-
sions, and nearly three-quarters of teens expect future job
satisfaction to be directly related to how much money they
make.14

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL
AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF
THE TUBE
“My children are seduced
into believing that if they
have the right things or more
things, they will not just be
happier, but also more popu-
lar. This culture that sees
kids mostly as consumers is
creating a future generation
of kids that have not felt val-
ued for their character or
their contributions to the
greater community.” Jane Brolsma, Oregon.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 9
 When a society is preoccupied with material things,
children and adults lose touch with non-commercial sources
of happiness. In trying to fulfill non-material needs materi-
ally, we can lose contact with friends, nature and creative
play. “Ads have encouraged this generation to have material
expectations they can’t fulfill,” says noted author and clini-
cal psychologist Mary Pipher. “This generation is the ‘I
want’ generation. They have been educated to entitlement
and programmed for discontent.”15
Studies show that less time in front of the TV and more
time outdoors would do our children a world of good. Early
experiences with the natural world have been positively
linked with enhancing the development of imagination and a
sense of wonder in children. Time outdoors in nature also
plays a key part in helping children feel comfortable in the
world around them. Child development studies are finding
today’s kids are increasingly “biophobic” — fearful of the
natural world. That is, they only feel comfortable in
synthetic, climate-controlled environments.16
Too much time spent in front of the TV also has been
linked with increased violence, low self-esteem and obesity.
Both the Surgeon General and a Stanford University study
have linked watching TV to excess body weight. In some
school districts, over half the student population is over-
weight. And, unfortunately, many of these children will carry
their weight problems into adulthood — over-
weight teenagers have an 80% chance of
becoming obese adults.17

GROWING UP TOO QUICKLY—THE

LOST ART OF PLAY
Thanks to the constant bombard-
ment of advertising geared toward

10 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
 HOPE ZANES

adults, children are also growing up faster and doing “adult”

things at younger and younger ages. Advertisers exacerbate
this trend by deliberately using older kids in advertisements
aimed at younger children. Ironically, toy advertisers have
been victims of their own successes. An article in The
Washington Post describes the “age compression” faced by
toy marketers — each year, kids outgrow toys at younger
ages, and toy marketers have to adjust accordingly. So do
parents! 18
Many younger children, particularly girls, want to emu-
late the images they see on TV and dress like older children.
“My nine-year-old daughter believes she should be allowed
to wear makeup and wear clothes that are skimpy and quite
inappropriate. She chooses these ‘looks’ from magazine ads
geared to pre-teens,” says Susan Kemp of Illinois.
Tying identity and self-worth to “coolness” encourages
kids to value image over substance and cash over compas-
sion. The more image-oriented we become, the more empty
we feel, and young people are especially sensitive to this.
From eating disorders to crime and drug use, much of the
trouble our young people experience comes from an inabili-
ty to find lasting satisfaction in material goods.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 11
 HOPE ZANES

OUR OVERBOOKED CHILDREN

“The pressure on our kids to go, do and be is unreal.
They are pushed to grow up younger and expect more.”
Kitty Welton, Utah.
Like the frantic tempo of many ads, the pace of life for
the average child is a lot faster than it once was. Like it or
not, many kids are getting an unintended early lesson in
leading a hectic, on-the-go lifestyle. Alvin Rosenfeld, author
of The Over-Scheduled Child, is concerned that lots of kids
are pushed too hard toward achievement without enough
time for relaxation, imagination or friendship. “What’s hap-
pened,” he explains, “is, you have to be in every activity, all
the time. You have to be in soccer and take flute and take
French lessons and go for I-don’t-know-what and it’s end-
less. It has become the American way of raising children.” 19
Constant striving for achievement is hard on kids and on
their parents. Rosenfeld explains, “Overscheduled kids,
many of them, by the time they’re 12 or 14, don’t know who
they are. The ones who are winning, doing all the accom-
plishments, feel like frauds. They say, ‘Nobody knows who I
am, because I constantly have to be who they want me to

12 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
be.’”20 Parents want happy, successful children, but some-
times the best way to achieve that is to give kids time to
relax and explore in an unstructured way. Slowing down
offers kids a refreshing chance to escape from the hurry-
hurry hype of our commercial culture.

POOR MONEY MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Commercial pressure fuels an insatiable desire for more,
and instant credit makes it all too easy to make impulse
purchases. In a society that pushes us to spend, spend,
spend, it takes a lot of extra effort to instill good money
management skills in our chil-
dren. Despite the booming
economy of the late 1990’s:
◆ The average personal savings
rate in the United States plum-
meted to 1.6% in 2001. (From
1959 through 1992, the annual
savings rate never dipped below
7%, and the average rate of sav-
ings was 8.8%.)21
◆ In 2001, for the sixth straight
year in a row, more Americans
declared bankruptcy than gradu-
ated from college.22 2001 also
set the record for personal bankruptcy declarations —
1.5 million — nearly 20% more than in 2000.23
◆ Between 1990 and 1999, the amount of credit card debt
held by the average college student jumped by over 300%,
from $900 to $2,748. University administrators cite finan-
cial mismanagement as a crisis among college students.24

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 13
LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, IMMIGRANT FAMILIES
AND THE PRESSURE TO CONSUME
Our commercial culture is particularly problematic for
people who can’t afford to buy the latest brand name items.
When young people define their self-worth by what they
wear or own, low-income kids feel the pressure most acute-
ly. As Jennifer Hall of Michigan explains, “When my oldest
child was four years old he was already embarrassed to be
seen in our beat-up car when I dropped him off at day care.
The effect of the affluent kids is pervasive — it even affects
things as seemingly innocuous as lunch. The poor kids qual-
ify for free hot breakfast and lunch, which creates a caste
system in the schools. Kids don’t understand why they can’t
have what they want when their friends do. What are we
supposed to do, tell them they can only be friends with poor
kids to make it easier for mom and dad to say no?”
Recent immigrants also worry about this pressure on
their children. Barbara Gottleib-Robles of Maryland says
about her daughter, “she’s finding it hard (as a 4 1⁄ 2-year-old
recent immigrant to the States) to resist the dazzle of all
her friends’ toys, videos, games, new shoes, etc. etc. ad
nauseam. We wonder what values
she will finally hold.”
Immigrant families strug-
gle to maintain ties to
their native lands while
adapting to life in a new
culture, and this pressure
becomes especially acute
because of the strong pull of
American commercialism.

14 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
POSITIVE STEPS FOR PARENTS
W ith hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on
advertising, it's impossible to be immune from commer-
cialism, but there are steps we can take to protect our
families. To nurture our children, we need to consciously
reclaim our time and establish
rituals and traditions that are
healthy for our kids. Here are
some of the positive actions
parents can take.

TAMING TUBE TIME

If you are concerned that your
kids are spending too much time
in front of the television or com-
puter, consider taking some of
the following steps.
◆ Establish limits on how much
time your children spend online or
watching TV, and keep the TV and computer in public areas
of the house where you can keep an eye on them.
◆ Encourage creative alternatives to television.
◆ Mute the television during commercial breaks, or watch
commercials with your children and help them understand
the companies’ marketing techniques.
◆ Set a good example. Watch occasional programs that you
choose with good reason. Always be willing to explain your
decisions.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 15
COMMERCIAL-FREE SCHOOLS
How can we keep our schools commercial-free?
◆ Ask the PTA to hold a meeting about commercialism in
the school. Work with teachers to analyze how and when
commercial messages are reaching children, whether in text-
books, the cafeteria, hallways, through fundraising events,
monthly discount book sales (that increasingly sell jewelry,
toys, and non-educational products), etc. Then figure out
what needs to be done to reduce commercial exposure.
◆ Does your child’s school have Channel One? If so, ask to
watch a broadcast. If the level and content of the advertis-
ing disturbs you, work with other parents to get rid of
Channel One. Brainstorm alternatives and put your plans
into action. In dozens of communities across the country,
parents have successfully gotten rid of Channel One in their
schools.

HEALTHY CHOICES FOR HEALTHY KIDS

Empower your children to be responsible for their own
health — and aware of the connections between their
health and the health of the world.
◆ Spend more time in
nature. A park or
even your own
yard will do. It
helps connect
children and
adults to the larg-
er scheme of things
and offsets the noise
and rush of daily life. It also
encourages kids to be physically active.
◆ Teach your children to be aware of their health and their

16 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
choices. Faced with “super sized” meals and “extra large”
sodas, kids have almost no chance of developing realistic
food expectations without guidance and support.
◆ Grow your own food — even a pumpkin seed in a pot.
Involve the kids. Teach your child about the connections
within the natural world. Experience the beauty together.
Talk about where things come from, who made them, what
they are made of.

ECO-RESPONSIBLE CONSUMERS
Help your child understand that every product is made
from materials extracted from the Earth, and that material
things don’t just disappear when the garbage gets picked
up.
◆ Teach your children about what happens to all that stuff.
When we consume lots of plastic, or heavily packaged goods
and products that easily break, we are leaving a heavy bur-
den for future generations to bear.
◆ Seek out sources of products that are durable and made
from biodegradable or recycled materials and which use
less energy. Try to find recycled paper, locally-grown organic
food and other earth-friendly products.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 17
CREATIVE PLAY
There are many alternatives to commercialized electronic
entertainment. Encouraging children’s creativity is one of
the best ways to help them develop into self-sufficient,
thinking adults.

◆ Give kids the gift of music and art,

both as enjoyers and makers. Buy
music lessons rather than fancy elec-
tronic gadgets.
◆ Give children a big box of crayons
and rolls of shelf paper. Supply them with
sidewalk chalk, old cardboard boxes and
other makings of creative play.
◆ Pretend! Imagine you live in medieval France. Imagine
you’re ninety years old. Imagine you’re president. Imagining
encourages empathy in children. Collect old clothes or buy
some at a thrift store; make a dress-up chest and act out
stories.
◆ Have an electricity-free night. “Roughing-it” at home by
candlelight without the distractions of electrical gadgets
offers a fun opportunity to bond as a family.
◆ Organize a trip
to the park for an
old-fashioned game
of capture the flag
or hide and seek.
HOPE ZANES

18 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
GUARD YOUR TIME
“It’s really about making
them the priority in your
life. A half hour may not
sound like much, but if
it’s quality time it can
be better than two or
three hours of distract-
ed attention. Investing
quality time in the kids
while they’re young will
pay large dividends in the
future. All they need is to
know that you are there for
them, and that you love
them.” Barrett Sherwood,
California.
◆ Make time a positive
force in your own life, and be a good role model: try to get
work done without being a workaholic. They will look to you
for an example, so show them how to set priorities and
make time for people you love.
◆ Make dinnertime special. Eat together as often as possi-
ble. Slow down and create a dinnertime ritual of getting
reconnected and really paying attention to each other as a
family, even if you can only make it happen once or twice a
week.
◆ Devote the 20 minutes before bedtime exclusively to
your children. Reconnect with them, read a book, swap
news of the day, listen, pray or create some other ritual that
gives both of you the regular opportunity to express your
mutual love.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 19
SHOPPING, MONEY AND “STUFF”
By teaching our children just to pay attention to the flow
of money and stuff in our lives, we are giv-
ing them the tools they will need for
financial security and helping to fos-
ter a healthy attitude about money
and spending.
◆ Teach your child the value of
money. Offer an allowance and set
up a regular plan with your child
for depositing a portion of the
allowance in the local bank, and per-
haps for donating a portion to a local
charity. Let kids spend their own money and
live with the consequences of their choices.
◆ When your children beg for the latest toy craze, talk
about why they want the new object before just saying no or
giving in. By talking about the root cause of the want and
whether it really is something worth having, you may be
able to diffuse their fixation on the object. Learn to say no
and set limits.
◆ Shopping can be fun — a time to share, laugh and be
together. Just don’t turn the mall into your primary destina-
tion or shopping into your favorite sport.
◆ Bring kids along when you shop for birthday presents for
other children and ask them to think about the enduring
value of different toys. It’s a good opportunity to teach them
critical consumer skills.
◆ Be a role model. Avoid impulse shopping. Make a shop-
ping list and stick to it.

20 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
YOUR CHILDREN (AND YOU) ARE MORE THAN A BRAND
Sometimes children need to be reminded that the
thoughts in their head and the love in their heart matter
more than the logos on their clothing. Brands are a form of
labeling, of judging someone in a superficial manner based
on their appearance.

◆ Discuss stereotypes, labels and judgments. Help kids

value people for who they are, not what they own.
◆ Seek out clothing that is brand- or label-free. Talk with
kids about why you’re doing this.

REMEMBERING OTHERS
A culture of affluent commercialism can spawn selfish-
ness and attitudes of entitlement among young people. One
cure to hyper-consuming kids is a good dose of awareness
— remembering that not everyone lives like they do.
◆ Volunteer with your children in a soup kitchen or other
establishment where they can meet people less fortunate
than themselves.
◆ Take them to
visit their grand-
parents, or to a
retirement commu-
nity to speak with
the elderly.
Encourage kids to
ask their elders
what life was like
when they were young, what’s brought them joy in life and
what they value most.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 21
 “FRIENDS,” JACQUELINE, AGE 12

SO WHAT DO KIDS REALLY WANT?

R ecently, the Center held an art and essay contest, asking
children, ages 5 to 17, “What do you really want that
money can’t buy?” Their responses were extraordinary, not
only for their creativity, vision and hope, but because they
catalog the human heart. These children spoke universal
truths, of the human hunger for deep connections to
friends, family, nature and community, as well as their
desire for a safer, more beautiful world.
What did they say? “I want a true friend that sticks with
you through thick and thin,” writes ten-year-old Brandon.
“My mom
because she
takes good care
of me and
helps me with
my homework
and I love her
very much”
writes seven-
year-old Aaron.
“Money could “MORE TIME,” STEPHANIE, AGE 11
never buy the

22 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
conversation that my Dad and I have in the car on the way
to hockey practice. We talk about everything that you could
think of. We talk about friends and about what is going on
in the world… I love the time with my Dad and no one or no
thing could replace it,” says eleven-year-old Seth.
“I want to play in the snow every winter. I want to swim
in the ocean every summer. I want to plant trees in the park
with my friends every spring. I want to jump in puddles
every autumn. I want to
adopt a homeless dog and
a little kitten from a shel-
ter (mom, please let me!)
and teach them never to
fight. I want there to be
peace on Earth and I
want people to take bet-
ter care of our planet,”
writes one of our finalists,
ten-year-old Anastasia,
born in Russia and now
living in Jersey City.
“I want peace; a quiet- “LOVE AND RESPECT AROUND THE
ness for my soul. An ease WORLD,” M. MCCOSKEY, AGE 7
for my thoughts and a rest for my heart… I want faith. To
possess the substance of things hoped for and the evidence
of things not seen…” reflects Elisa, a very wise fouteen-
year-old.
Children can show us the way if we help them slow down
and stay attuned to their deeper, non-material yearnings.
They can help us rediscover what we want that money can’t
buy. Our true desires, for the most part, are universal: love,
peace, security, friends and the knowledge that we are part
of something larger than ourselves.
To see more winning entries, log on to
www.newdream.org/campaign/kids/contest.html.

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 23
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
T he task of conscientious parenting is always daunting,
and there’s a lot to be gained by reaching out to friends,
family and the community for support in your efforts to
reduce the negative impact of commercialism on your chil-
dren. Join a babysitting trading co-op. Find parental sup-
port groups. Speak with your parents or other people who
have already wrestled with these issues. Together, you’ll find
creative and innovative solutions that work for you, and
we’d love it if you’d share some of your suggestions with us.

WHAT YOU DO MATTERS

Obviously, these tips alone won’t single-mindedly solve all
the problems presented by our commercial world. But it’s
important to acknowledge that parents do have the power to
promote a healthy understanding of money, spending and the
effect of commercialism on our quality of life, the environ-
ment and a just society. This way, we help to raise a genera-
tion of young people who can lead happier and healthier
lives as they build better and stronger communities. It’s a
tall order, but it’s worth pursuing — for you, your children
and future generations.

24 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

THE CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN DREAM

The Center for a New American Dream is a membership-based
non-profit organization working to challenge the “more is better”
definition of the American dream. We help Americans consume
responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life and
promote social justice. We work with individuals, institutions, com-
munities and businesses to conserve natural resources, counter
the commercialization of our culture and promote positive changes
in the way goods are produced and consumed.

WE INVITE YOU TO BE OUR PARTNER

If you found this brochure to be useful, let us know. We appreciate
your feedback and encouragement. Our work depends on the gen-
erosity and support of people across the country. Please consider
becoming a supporting member of the Center for a New American
Dream.
As a member, you’ll receive a copy of the Center’s 30-minute
video, More Fun, Less Stuff: The Challenges and Rewards of a New
American Dream; our quarterly publication Enough; and a monthly
e-mail bulletin with information about ongoing campaigns, book
recommendations and action tips. Become a supporting member of
the Center for a New American Dream and join us as we encourage
Americans to adopt our motto: More Fun, Less Stuff!

ORGANIZATIONS
TV-Turnoff Network www.tvturnoff.org, email@tvturnoff.org,
202-518-5556
National Institute on Media and the Family
www.mediaandthefamily.org, information@mediafamily.org,
1-888-672-KIDS
Center for Media Education
www.cme.org, cme@cme.org, 202-331-7833
Dads and Daughers
www.dadsanddaughters.org, info@dadsanddaughters.org,
1-888-824-DADS

(continued next page)

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 25
Commercial Alert
www.commercialalert.org, info@commercialalert.org, 503-235-
8012
Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children
www.commercialexploitation.com, Diane Levin—Dlevin@whee-
lock.edu, 617-879-2167

BOOKS
Canada, Geoffrey. Reaching Up For Manhood. Beacon, 1998.
Hewlett, Sylvia Ann and Cornel West. The War Against Parents:
What We Can Do for America’s Beleaguered Moms and Dads.
Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Pipher, Mary. The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families.
Ballantine Books, 1996.
Rosenfeld, Alvin, PhD., and Nicole Wise. The Over-Scheduled Child:
Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap. Griffin, 2001.
Taylor, Betsy. What Kids Really Want That Money Can’t Buy.
Warner, 2003.

MAGAZINES
Stay Free! Magazine www.stayfreemagazine.org,
carrie@stayfreemagazine.org,
718-398-9324.
Zillions: Consumer Reports for Kids www.zillions.org, 101 Truman
Ave., Yonkers, NY 10703-1057, fax: 914-378-2985.
Stone Soup, literary magazine by and for kids 8-13.
www.stonesoup.com, lgabriel@stonesoup.com, 1-800-447-4569.
New Moon, a magazine for girls and young women.
www.newmoon.org, newmoon@newmoon.org, 1-800-3814743.

OTHER

Video: The Cost of Cool, a video about youth, consumption, and the
environment. Available from Population Communications
International www.population.org. (Look for it at your library first!)

Simplicity Activities for 4th/5th Graders from seedsofsimplicity.org.

1-877-UNSTUFF. Also available: 7-minute video, “Kids Speak Out
on Stuff.”

26 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
THE CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN DREAM’S
KIDS AND COMMERCIALISM CAMPAIGN IS ENDORSED BY:

INDIVIDUALS*
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Marian Wright Edelman
Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund
Raffi
Children’s Troubadour, Author
Sylvia Ann Hewlett
Co-author with Cornel West of The War Against Parents: What We Can
Do for America’s Beleaguered Moms and Dads
Patch Adams
Gesundheit Institute
Mary Pipher, Ph.D.
Author of Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding
Our Families
Juliet Schor
Boston College
Author of The Overspent American
Bill McKibben
Author of The End of Nature
Joanna Macy
Co-author with Molly Young Brown of Coming Back to Life: Practices to
Reconnect Our Lives, Our World
David Walsh
President, National Institute on Media and the Family
Author of Designer Kids and Selling Out America’s Children
Arnold Fege
President, Public Advocacy for Kids
Former director of governmental relations, National PTA
Michael Jacobson
Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest
Co-author with Laurie Mazur of Marketing Madness
Alex Molnar
Director of the Center for the Analysis of Commercialism
in Education
Author of Giving Kids the Business: The Commercialization
of America’s Schools
Peggy O’Mara
Editor and Publisher, Mothering Magazine
Marian Tompson
Founding mother of La Leche League
(continued next page)

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 27
Jean Kilbourne, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar, Wellesley College
Creator of Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women
Terry Tempest Williams
Author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place and An
Unspoken Hunger
Brian Swimme, Ph.D.
Author of The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos
Cecile Andrews
Author of The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life
Dan Zanes
Family Entertainer, Musician
David Suzuki
Geneticist, co-author with Amanda McConnell of
The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
Bonnie McDaniel
Author of The Art of Good Living
Red Grammer
Family singer and songwriter
* (The organizations of individual endorsers are listed for identification purposes only.)

ORGANIZATIONS
Bridging the Gap
Center for Commercial-Free Public Education
Consumer Federation of America
Center for Media Education
Co-op America
Commercial Alert
Consumer’s Choice Council
Dads and Daughters
Earth Ministry
Friends of the Earth-US
Global Action Plan for the Earth
Honor the Earth Fund
Media Education Foundation
Mothers & Others
National Head Start Association
New Road Map Foundation
Obligation Inc.
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Rainforest Action Network
Redefining Progress
Second Nature
Stay Free! magazine
TV-Free America
Worldwatch Institute
Zillions: Consumer Reports for Kids

28 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
FOOTNOTES

1 James McNeal and Chyon-Hwa Yeh. “Born to Shop,” American

Demographics, June 1993, pp 34-39.
2 Cited in “Brand Aware,” Children’s Business, June 2000.
3 “New Poll Shows Marketing to Kids Taking Its Toll on Parents,
Families.” Center for a New American Dream, 1999.
www.newdream.org/campaign/kids/press-release.html
4 James McNeal. “Tapping the Three Kids’ Markets,” American
Demographics, April 1998, pp 37-41. Teenage Research Unlimited.
Press release 1/25/02, “Teens Spent $172 Billion in 2001” www.teenre-
search.com.
5 McNeal quoted in: Campbell, Kim. “How ads get kids to say, I want it!”
Christian Science Monitor, September 18, 2000.
6 Teenage Research Unlimited. Press release 1/25/02, “Teens Spent $172
Billion in 2001” www.teenresearch.com.
7 James McNeal. “Tapping the Three Kids’ Markets,” American
Demographics, April 1998, pp 37-41.
8 Annenberg Public Policy Center. “Media In The Home 2000: The Fifth
Annual Survey of Parents and Children.”
http://www.appcpenn.org/reports/2000/, 19.
9 Ibid.
10 American Academy of Pediatrics (1999). Cited by National Institute on
Media and the Family, “Children and Advertising Fact Sheet” 2002.
11 Kaiser Family Foundation Study — Kids & Media @ The New
Millennium. See www.kff.org.
12 U.S. News and World Report, 1999, as cited in National Institute on
Media and the Family, “Internet Advertising and Children Fact Sheet”
2002.
13 According to a 1998 study by Professor Alex Molnar, director of the
University of Wisconsin’s Center for the Analysis of Commercialism in
Education, and Max Sawicky, an economist with the Economic Policy
Institute.
14 “American Dream 2000,” poll by Interprise for Junior Achievement.
http://www.ja.org/about/about_new_poll.shtml.
15 Pipher, Mary. The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding our Families. New
York: Ballantine Books, 1996.
16 See Orr, D.W. Earth in Mind. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1994. 131.

(continued next page)

T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E 29
17 Squires, Sally. “Obesity-Linked Diabetes Rising in Children.”
Washington Post. November 3, 1998, p. 207.
18 Shen, Fern. “Toys? But I’m 10 Now!” The Washington Post, February
17, 2002, p. H1.
19 Trestrail, Joanne. “Overscheduled, Overwhelmed” interview with Alvin
Rosenfeld. Chicago Tribune. September 2, 2001.
20 Ibid.
21 Personal savings rate data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US
Department of Commerce.
22 “Projections of Education Statistics to 2010,” National Center for
Education Statistics, US Department of Education, and “Non-Business
Bankruptcy Filings by Chapter, 1990–2001,” American Bankruptcy
Institute (www.abiwolrd.org/stats/1990nonbuschapter.html).
23 Morning Edition, National Public Radio. “Personal bankruptcy filings
jump by nearly 20 percent in 2001” May 8, 2002.
24 “Credit Card Use Continued Among College Students,” Nellie Mae web-
site, www.nelliemae.com. Hadley, Jane. “Credit Cards Get Students in a
Hole Fast,” Seattle Post Intelligencer, May 11, 1998.

30 T I P S F O R P A R E N T I N G I N A C O M M E R I C A L C U LT U R E
HELP US RE-SHAPE THE AMERICAN DREAM!
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