Should children learn about advertising
in school?
‘The main function of an advert is to convey a
message about a brand effectively to influence consumers’ perceptions of the
brand, to render the brand more desirable, and to create an intention to buy,
to eventual purchase’ (Gunter, Oates and Blades 2005:100). The intended purpose
of advertisement might not be recognisable for all adults and children. Banaji
(2010) highlights the importance of children having an understanding of
adverts, as Livingstone (2006 cited in Banaji, 2010) claimed that children of
all ages are affected by advertising. Gunter et al (2005:4) outline some of the
negative affects advertising can have on children: encouragement of unhealthy
eating, family arguments due to advertising causing children to pester their
parents and children viewing religious occasions in ‘purely commercial terms’. Gunter
et al (2005) recognise that advertisements can be used to aware children of
important issues, for example healthy eating. However, some have argued that this
is a selling point (Gunter et al, 2005).
Children have been viewed as being vulnerable to advertisement;
Craggs (1992, cited in Gunter et al, 2005) has suggested a way to increase
children’s understanding is through learning about advertisement in school. The
research showed that teachers should use children’s perceptions and current
knowledge as a starting point (Banaji, 2010). The outcome of the discussion
emphasised that the teaching of advertisement allowed the teacher to see how
much the children actually understood by hearing their critics (Banaji, 2010). The
research project showed that allowing children to create or edit adverts created
opportunities for children to develop persuasive skills through writing and
design features (Banaji, 2010). The level of engagement reported from the
teacher shows the success of using advertisement in education. It allowed the
children to develop their: persuasive writing skills, media skills and
awareness of how consumers are targeted in advertising (Banaji, 2010). It has been
argued that the teaching of advertisement will help the children to be ‘adwise’
when viewing advertisements (Banaji, 2010:72). However, Banaji (2010) raises
the question of, what age is appropriate to teach advertisement?
Banaji,
S (2010) ‘Analysing Advertisements in the Classroom’ in Bazelgette, C. (Ed) Teaching
Media in Primary Schools London: Sage
Gunter,
B. Oates, C. & Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to Children on TV New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
I think you've highlighted some key questions here as to what age is it appropriate to teach advertisement? I do agree that children need to learn though as they are very vulnerable to advertisement and by increasing their understanding you are making them aware of the negative effects advertising can have.
ReplyDeleteAge appropriate teaching with this topic is a very important question and issue which I have also seen raised within my own reading and I am glad you have used this question.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether teaching children the positive and indeed negative aspects of advertising would only create further vulnerability and negative views to children's advertising from children themselves through making them aware of the issues.
ReplyDeleteAfter reflecting on your comment I think it is appropriate to make the judgement of whether to teach advertisement basing it on the specific class rather than age . As the teachers anxieties and concerns may differ for different groups of children .
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments that the teaching of advertisement should be age based. However, I disagree that it should be based on the teachers anxieties and concerns, as it has been made clear through readings that the teaching of advertisements has positive effects on the child's understanding, therefore why should it be the teachers decision to teach it? They may simply chose not to teach it because it is not assessed, which I feel is an inadequate reason.
ReplyDeleteI agree I think not teaching it because it is not assessed is not good enough reason not to teach it as I am aware of the advantages of teaching it . However, I think it is up to the teacher to decide when the children are ready to learn about advertisement .
ReplyDeleteFrom creating an advertisement for rights of the child with year three children, it has improved my confidence in teaching advertisement . Which makes me question if the content is educational does this improve our confidence in teaching advertisement ?
ReplyDeleteFrom working with children when producing an advertisement, I also feel my confidence has grown, as I now have a deeper understanding of the technical side but also how the child may react in this context. It would be useful to know if you would agree that the year three children were more than capable to be exposed to this lesson, however do you think it may have been because the content was based on promoting the rights of the child and not on a negative focus of obesity or models for example.
DeleteI think by using curriculum based content year three it has increased my confidence in teaching advertisement with lower key stage two. I was surprised how the children in year three were able to define the purpose of advertisement. However, I do have concerns of teaching media based issues such as: body image and obesity with lower key stage two. So I am still unsure what age is appropriate to introduce advertisement using media based issues.
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