Kids and Advertising: Do They Think About It At All?

I live in the city, and my journey to and from work is awash with advertising. Sometimes it's right in my face. Other times, it's not easy to spot. But subtle or obvious, it`s always there, and always very sophisticated.

When I see it I worry about my little nieces and nephews, who range in age from the terrible two's to the "tween" years. How will they survive this onslaught? What do they think about it? Or, a scarier question: do they think about it at all?

In my virtual travels as a librarian, I've discovered that there are fun, online ways that kids can learn to recognize and evaluate advertising.

One such way is through the Media Awareness Network's website.

The Media Awareness Network is a Canadian non-profit organization that develops media and digital literacy programs, in partnership with the Canadian Library Association, Canadian Teachers' Federation, Canadian Association of Principals, PREVNet and the Association for Media Literacy.

The Network's website has an educational games section. One of the games, Co-Co's Adversmarts, focuses on websites. It is designed to help kids between the ages of 5 and 8 "recognize the marketing techniques used on commercial websites that target children."

The Media Awareness Network is not the only organization addressing this issue. One very new tool out there is the U.S.Bureau of Consumer Protection's website called Admongo.

Admongo is also in the form of game, whose goal is to teach kids ages 8-12 core advertising literacy concepts through play. Have a look at it.

And if you'd like your kids to know how they make all that food in advertising look so good, show them PBS's Don't Buy It: Get Media Smart! (Tell them it's yucky – it is!)

Here are some books that you can find at the library on the topic of children and advertising: