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Pester Power
Ok so it's coming up to Christmas and despite our every effort to the darling teenagers in our lives, this time of year has turned into nothing more than a shop front.
I have to say, I was shopping the other day with my 7-year-old and we saw a Bratz House. We looked at it and I was astonished at a price tag of £189. I could not believe it, for a plastic house! This was great as it allowed for us to have a conversation about money.
However my heart went out as I know that many parents will be pestered and pestered for that house and parents all over the country will give in to make their children happy. The power of advertising!
We appear to have created a generation of parents who cannot say 'no', parents who seem unwilling or unable to set limits or draw the line anywhere. Is it that they feel more guilty as so many of them are working such long hours, or that our kids have just got better at asking, or is it that the advertising is just so good that we just cannot say no?
Me, Me, Me!
Whatever the reason, I have to say that I am concerned that we are raising a generation who are "wanting machines" - who respond to the marketing aimed right at them. They are growing up with a distorted sense of entitlement and we risk the next generation becoming self-centred and self-absorbed and growing up into adults that simply do not care.
And the figures are staggering.
According to market research, families of 3-12 year olds now spend $53.8 billion annually on entertainment, personal care items and reading material, $17.6 billion more that 1997.
And there is another worrying thought, does over-indulgence have a bad effect on school performance and relationships? Kids who get their own way most of the time are very demanding and much less likely to be able to form long-lasting, sustainable relationships with people.
So what do we do? Click here to read Sarah's Five Steps To Defeating Pester Power.
