Nowadays, there are many television advertisements aimed at children.
What are the effects aimed at children?
what are the effects of these advertisements on children?
Should TV advertisements be controlled?

Opinion 1

Nowadays there are many television advertisements mainly promote products to children.Some people are questioning what effects this advertising has on children and whether these ads should be controlled.

There is no doubt that advertisements can influence children more than adults. It is well known that the brains of children are not fully developed and children are not yet able to make decisions on which products they should be using. Thus, it is likely that they choose inappropriate items like choosing toys that are not suitable to their ages.

Also, it should be pointed out that most children do not have the money to purchase the products they want to use. In almost all instances, parents or guardians are responsible for purchasing items for their children. That being said, some children have tremendous influence over their parents regarding which items are to be purchased.

There have been some instances in which illegal items for children have been advertised to children. This includes the advertising of alcohol, cigarettes or prescription drugs on children’s television programming, in children’s magazines, or other forms of media primarily watched or viewed by children. This advertising of products which are illegal for kids should certainly be limited or banned, as the use of alcohol, cigarettes and non-prescribed drugs by
children will certainly cause more social problems.

But for all other legal products, instead of controlling advertisements for children, it will be more effective to educate parents regarding the possible negative effects of the products which are often targeted at children through advertising. Ultimately, parents should be the ones who are primarily responsible for which ads their children see and how those ads might influence those children.

Opinion 2

Commercials have been an indispensable part in modern society and, nowadays, children have become the targets. I think government should set strict rules to protect children from overexposure.

Some commercials contain violent and pornographic images, which exert bad influences on children,s mental development. Worse still, some advertisements recommend unhealthy lifestyles to children. For example, children are easily attracted when they see fast food and soda on TV, unconsciously they may ask for more money to buy these sugary products, consequently developing obesity and other related diseases. Since most children lack self-control and can develop addiction to products promoted on TV, so the young viewers are likely to become impulsive in shopping in the future.

However, these advertisements have benefits as well. Children’s creativity and imagination can be stimulated by the stories and cartoons in the advertisements. Meanwhile, there are advertisements providing useful information, such as what sports equipment is good for outdoor activities or what learning tools are helpful for improving learning abilities. When children see this kind of information, their desire for learning or playing sports would be stimulated.

Therefore, for the sake of children, what is advertised on tv should be strictly controlled by governmental administrations. Regular supervision and censorship are required to regulate all kinds of commercials and enhance punishment for those who intentionally spread Inappropriate information.

To sum up, every coin has two sides and children-oriented advertising is no exception.Governments must take the responsibility to prevent children from being affected by the negative influences of some advertisements. Strict rules and supervision should be implemented as quickly as possible.