3 posts tagged “culture”

The ceremony inaugurating the 44th President of the United States just completed and I find I am elated.

There are a few reasons for this.  The most obvious one, a reason I'm sure many, many people share, is the significance of a bi-racial individual holding this office.

The second reason: President Obama opted to have poetry shared as part of this occasion. 
Wow. 
Elizabeth Alexander wrote and read a wonderful poem.  Sure I am an English teacher and take particular joy in a good poem, but there are also poems that touch me as a person, not just an teacher, and this was one of them.

This morning has already started well.

For the second night in a row, I'm dealing with insomnia.  What a great time to catch up on some posting!  It's also prime time for typos and I won't re-read.  Forgive the tired English teacher.

Last month I finished reading "Buy, Buy Baby:

How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds.  Being a new mom (only been at it for 1 1/2 years) and being a person interested in stuff related to my kid, and being a person interested in stewardship and (trying) not to bow to the marketing gods (though not always succeeding), I thought I'd find this interesting.  And I was right.

Thomas is a journalist and this is apparent in her writing.  I was expecting to hear things rather slanted, but I believe she does an ok job of striving for some balance.  In fact, after completing the book, I was surprised at its subtitle: it almost struck me as something the publisher would slap on instead of something she'd come up with.  Thomas does finally lets her guard down in her conclusion and you hear what she really thinks, but by then she's laid out all sorts of info and she's made the shift clear.  You can't fault the lady for having her opinion. 

I wholeheartedly recommend this read for any parents with young'uns.  At any rate, it is educational and gives you something to consider, even if you can't turn back the clock, or even care to.

The book covers all sorts of information:

• the baby video craze (can it truly be 'educational' for a 12 month old?).
• how marketers target and yes, manipulate, Gen-X parents (who are far more likely to spend money on house and kids than their own parents were) who apparently will only buy toys that have a 'learning' component.
  
• explains the marketing brilliance behind the princess craze, Elmo, and Thomas the Train, among others.
  
• explores how marketers try for (though it's ethically dangerous territory) brand recognition in toddlers (btw - the top 5 brands recognized by kids, and some as young as 18 months, include Disney, Macdonalds, Cheerios, Barbie and Pop Tarts (!!!)).
• examines how brands have made their way into early educational childhood curricula. 
  

Thomas's conclusions certainly lead one to realize that TV isn't great for kids (sending home Baby Einstein with new moms is 'unconscionable')  and brands are no great shakes either.   Her last chapter advocates doing "Nothing" - that is, just playing, without any agenda.

At Christmastime, we made 2 requests of family members who wanted to purchase toys for Gus: please, no batteries (usually, it's just noisy!) and no brands - especially characters.   It's not that we have it in for Diego and Dora, but we know it'll be tough to fight this one down the road, (imagines 5-year-old Gus having a tantrum because I won't buy Bob the Builder rain jacket, lunchbox, curtains, and cereal - and the box would be right at his eye level at Extra Foods because marketers are smart that way) and it would be nice to at least not start the battle this young and right at home.

Now, I know there are far worse things out there for a kid than Winnie-the-Pooh plastered on every piece of furniture, clothing and toy-thing imaginable in their room, but like I alluded to earlier, it's important to at least consider the possibilities.  Happy Reading.

Book: Show us a book you've read more than once.