No prude but...
When it comes to the idea of building healthy habits and self-esteem, I am often skeptical of various approaches. I am also not a fan of completely blaming the media and advertising for their role in their manipulations as, we need to take at least some responsibility for our own actions and, the supply based on what we demand.
Today I was looking in a toy shop for some magnetic numbers for our daughter and even though numbers were not available, these were:
There were several facings of options on the shelf. It seems, numbers are of less importance than this nonsense. My daughter is 21 months old and is playing with a magnetic board with letters so, how old is the target of this? 16?
The issue is that parents must be buying these types of 'toys' for their children yet expect them not to be influenced. Our daughter recognises numbers to 10 and recognises about half the alphabet, kids soak in any information presented to them.
The problem isn't in the selling of it, companies are only interested in making money. It is in the buying of it. Who demands this kind of thing for their child?
We program our children from birth to become consumers of what we feed them, whether that be food, clothing, religions or our prejudices. The toys we give them shape their thinking and how they interact with the world and this provides their experience of that world.
Is it really a wonder why people are becoming more materialistic when one can't find magnetic numbers for a child but can find this nonsense with no value whatsoever? Let alone the concepts of sexualization of minors and stereotyping. At least Barbi was past age of consent... where is the line these days?
You are what you eat. Feed a kid trash...
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
I think we do have to take responsibility of the 'demand' forces that we bring to the market. Then there is another level of depth to it. People demand things not just by their need. Demand is based on a combination of factors of requirement, fashion, affordability. The giants sitting in the so called free market know how to affect these forces to bring about the best outcome for their bottom-line.
Still there is no escaping the responsibility on our shoulders because nobody is directly forcing us to buy anything. The fact that rubbish is selling hotter than important educational stuff is one of the many choices made by us that has brought this to the market.
This I totally agree with you, children spend 90% of their time learning from everything and everyone around them. I see no values in toys which can’t impact the basic needed knowledge by the kids.
I agree with you on this. There are many things wrong with this toy. If anything, exposing young impressionable girls to this dress me up nonsense should be avoided. Dressing up comes naturally to most girls, which is why marketers seek to utilize this drive to the fullest. Female status competition by dress up feeds on unnecessary wants and is antithetical to their own peace of mind. We live in an age of information overload and manipulation galore. Clarity and peace of mind are treasures ever more difficult to attain in this time.
It comes naturally to most so why would a parent encourage forcing it at ever younger ages?
It is not forced. When a little girl sees a set like that, she will probably want it. It takes effort on part of the parent to say no - not to mention to realize there is a problem with it in the first place.
I have to commend your effort here, you mean the girl is just 21 months old and she can do all that? Wow! This is just wow!
Parents has a lots of role to play in checking through what their children are exposed to, we don't just buy things just for buying sake, we have to see what value it add to them
Our world is what it is today because a lot of parents are failing in this their primary responsibilities.
Your daughter must be lucky to have you as her father... Smile
Yeah, she is really good at some things.
This is just too amazing. My regards to her.... Smile
Its the world we live in unfortunately - the stuff that shows on TV these days and children are watching is awful, and children soak everything in and moulds their view of the world.
Gender steroetypes are so ingrained in children - when I was teaching early childhood and said my favorite color was pink id often get stares from children and even comments such as 'boys cant like pink'. Best thing to do is to encourage children to be be whatever they want to be and not give in to society and its stereotypes
My daughter is yet to see a screen to watch any of it. She is going to be an analogue child for as long as possible.
Great. We are going to do the same when we have children - they dont need screens its to much stimulation for their developing brains
You'll soon realize parents are giving their daughters bikini tops while going to a pool or sea. Why? The chests of children, boys or girls, are exactly the same. It's the adults who give a different meaning to those chests.
I'm really really saddened by the sexualisation of girls and the toys they are supposed to play with.
It is quite strange really and at the same time, there are more creepy folk in the world too. I would say that there are quite a lot of connections between the two types of events.
Oh man, if this bothers you, don't go looking for dressup games on the internet.
There's clearly a very large demographic who finds dressing up dolls to be fascinating. I don't understand them, but I don't understand the people playing online slots or find-the-hidden-object games either.
Are these for 2 year olds? This was Toys R Us. It isn't just the weird factor, it is what people think is a worthy toy of a child.
Good job mate. Kids are like PC's, what you put in is what you'll get out. People seem to be happy with surrounding their kids with trash from any age and then wonder why certain issues arise? The "how the f.ck did that happen" syndrome I call it, when in fact you are what happens to your child.
It's as if people have just given up on being clear thinking, logical and caring parents. I don't want to carry on as I get very angry that so many people will keep supporting this kind of rubbish and so we'll see more and more of it.
Program them young, make them obsolete adults.
Sickening isn't it? Makes me so mad that children are so exploited by disgusting types that don't even live in your home, but the parents should be fighting this tooth and nail.
Hi Taraz. Quite scary when you think of it. Where are the simple educational tools that I had for my children 20 odd years ago? I had kids when I was young. That doll with magnetic clothes or whatever it is I would suggest is for a 10 year old or so. What would I know. I have a grandson now so will no doubt discover what you are finding out and will be careful what I purchase. At least it's not a hentai drawing lol.
Yeah, what 10 year old plays with magnetic boards though?
Yet.
I don't know. Suppose I need to get back thinking like a kid again. Older boys are easier to get stuff for. My nephews are simple cars and more cars. Drones next maybe.
If there is no demand, there will be no supply. Parents who buy such rubbish are the reason why we seem to be raising a 'confused' generation of millenias. Confused in the sense that many have been fed years of garbage infirmation and are now in need of a serious detox
Yeah, I don't think many parent's actually think too much through what they give their children.