Topic > Negative effects of advertising on children - 518

Advertising is harmful to children, not because "Advertising is about choices, nothing else" (Kurnit), but because unlike adults, children are too impressionable and therefore they need guidance so that such advertising does not negatively influence the choices that children make for their future. However, even the parent of the year would fail to prevent their child from being negatively affected by the “more than 25,000 advertisements per year” (Levin 51) witnessed by children. Whether it's the food and beverage marketing industry that “is associated with rising obesity rates” (Lang 339), or tobacco manufacturers that spend “$30 million per day (11.2 billion per year) in advertising and promotion” (Padley 3), or all the toys offered on television and the Internet, such advertising “has an immense impact on the impressionable minds of your generation” (Pandey 1). Without proper guidance, advertising can be confusing and sometimes negatively misleading to younger children. However, the opposition believes that “the reason there are so many fat, unhealthy kids getting involved is me...