Response Essay: Affluenza
October 20, 2013
Children vs. Marketplace
In “Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic,” by John De Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor presents a conflict on how children are exposed to the marketplace. They explain how advertisements are over controlling the world of commercials and how kids are being overexposed to them. Today the commercials are filled with toys, clothing, and the way kids are filled with joy inside the TV screen. Therefore, the children always want the new thing that is being advertised. They also explain how advertisers are paid on how much they advertise their product and how much money is spent each year by the human race. Therefore, in other aspects there is a difference between wanting a certain product and actually needing that product. Kids these days do not really understand that concept in life; they just want to fit in because the other kid at school has the new in thing instead of understanding how to earn it, to be successful in life.
There is a huge factor on knowing the difference between a want and a need in society now. You see all these commercials of product candy. Product candy is when you see a nice thing and you even have to drool over it. However, for kids they see a lot of commercials where the big corporations put on, especially on the cartoon channels knowing that is the shows the kids watch the most. They do it on purpose so the kid can fall in love with there product and beg there parents until the parent gives in and either buys it or even orders the product depending where they sell.
I once heard that “Actions comes with consequences.” well I can understand it now what it truly means. As a child, growing up I did not have the nicest things or the nicest outfits. My grandmother made most of my clothing up until she past away when I was nine. The only one thing I was actually grateful for was my Barbies and my one favorite baby doll that I got for either my birthday or Christmas. Now as a young adult, I still cherish those special toys. I now have things that are expensive and in the “in thing,” but the only reason, why I have them is because I earned them with my own money.
Today all kids want for Christmas or there birthdays are tablets, laptops, video game councils, ipods, and even cell phones at such a young age. What happened to playing with dolls or even Barbies. Also, cowboys and robbers outside. I know those were fun and imaginative.
I have siblings at home I try to play with and be imaginative with, but there is response is like “no its okay im fine playing Mario party” and im like okay. Kids now and days need to be outside and more active. They now have to be anti-social, be inside, and lounge around playing there electronics. You literally have to put your child in a sport or else they wouldn’t do it. I know that in my family my siblings are depended on there electronics. That’s all they live for, so we actually put them in activities and sports to learn the value of teamwork and not being a sore loser. I love going to see them practices, games and them being happy.
In afluenza, they explain how a guy named john grows up playing outside and having fun with his friends. Then he explains that once he comes back from school to visit his siblings, he comes home to them being bored and not having anything to do when there toys are put to the side on the