Kids Taught To Want More Stuff

What do SpongeBob, Dora the Explorer and Ariel the mermaid have in common?

You may think it’s their quick wit, their irresistible appeal and their wholesome influence on your preschooler. But Susan Linn says they’re really hucksters designed to sell your kids a bill of goods.

“When the religious right attacked SpongeBob for being gay, I thought, ‘That’s the wrong battle,’ ” said Linn, a Harvard psychologist who was born and raised in Detroit. “The point is that he’s a tool for selling stuff — clothes, movies and junk food.”

Linn was the keynote speaker Saturday at Metro Parent Magazine’s forum in Livonia that addressed the deep and often-subtle influence that commercialism has on children. For Linn, author of “Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood,” it’s important that parents understand that while media aimed at kids may be cute or even educational, the purpose is often to directly pitch products to kids.

Buy, baby, buy.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 2 Nov 2005
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