▶ Your Answer :
No matter whether we do notice or not, we encounter countless advertisements and we are constantly influenced by them everyday. And this is true not only for adults but also for children. These days, children as well as adults like to watch televisions and therefore it can be said that it is a favourable situation for companies to tout their products eagerly. So some people predicate that there is no reason to forbid advertisements which are targeting children even under the age of five. However, in my opinion, companies should not be permitted to advertise to children.
To begin with, children are incapable of thinking rationally yet. To be specific, companies can hide some problems in their products by presenting what children love, such as famous entertainers. And if those products are snacks or beverages, serious health problems can be occured. But children do not know exactly what products are made up of and whether the products have toxic chemicals. So children may have interests on advertised products and buy those products without rational thinking. This can weaken children's health.
In addition, advertisements for children can bring about materialism to them. It is definitely true that money is important in modern society. However, this does not mean that money is important than any other precious things. There are still a lot of precious values such as family, friendship, love or else. But if children are exposed to advertisements that can precipitate materialism, children can be seduced and may willing to have products. This can lead children to materialism, and they might think that money is the most important value to get things. And it cannot be said that this situation is good for children's psychological development.
To encapsulate, as children are not fully developed yet, they are not able to consider wheter to buy or not rationally, and they can be influenced by materialism which is not good for their psychological development. So I firmly believe that companies should not be allowed to advertise to children. |