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Mike Berenstain and the Trouble with Commercials
How This Dad Is Fighting Back Against Ads Aimed at Children
By Donna Smith
Be Their Guide
Like all other issues with children watching TV, the main weapon parents have in helping their children is guidance, Berenstain says. "Parents should be aware of what their children are watching," he says. "Ideally, parents should watch TV with their children but, barring that, they should at least sample and observe their children's TV fare. They should comment on and analyze TV commercials while children are watching them. They should explain what commercials are for – that they are there only to sell things – and they should explain that commercials exaggerate. In other words, you shouldn't believe everything they say." Parents should let children know where they stand on commercials. "When parents watch TV they should demonstrably reject commercials – turning off the sound is a good trick," Berenstain says. "And they should criticize and complain about them. They should make fun of them. If children see that their parents intensely dislike and disrespect commercials, it will make an impression."
And he reminds parents to lead by example. "Also, most important, parents should practice what they preach in the sales resistance department," Berenstain says. "If they don't want their children to beg for everything they see on commercials, then parents should be selective and careful consumers, too."