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When you sit down to watch a 30-minute television programme, eight minutes go to advertising. I'll have to admit it seems like much more than that to me, but over the course of a week, we and our children are exposed to an incredible number of advertisements. I believe it's essential that we help our kids determine the merit of those messages.Author Faith McDonald suggests we can teach our kids how to analyse the commercials they see.
This assumes you will set aside time to watch television with your children, to help them understand the differences between fact and fantasy and how to discern the truth amidst what can be a confusing mix of contradictory messages.
Start by discussing the difference between “real” and “pretend” on television. With special effects and computer-generated graphics, such differences can be blurred in a child's mind. As you watch various commercials, point out to your children what’s believable and what’s not. Ask them to do the same.
When we take time to examine television with our kids, we can help them learn to filter the good from the bad, fact from fiction.
From TODAY, Voices - Wednesday, 23-June-2010
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