Under the influence

“Children learn what they live.”

Advertising is a large part of our culture, influencing how we act, think or react to our circumstances and the voices bombarding us from all directions. It may be enhanced by popular music, or offerings of something better. It plays a large part in our daily lives, where we make decisions according to our belief systems or desire to impress. What we value, manifests in our decisions. Children are most susceptible to the influence of what they see and hear on the media, including television, which repeats ads over and over and over, during particular sessions. It is basically “pester power”, which empowers children to manipulate those who they can influence to get their wishes.

Children learn that “pester power” works on adults. Children are the targets of online predators, as much as they are the targets of advertisers, for products which they deem “cool”! Being popular is vital to a child’s status in their social settings. This is a trap for the vulnerable and unsuspecting.

Government censors have strict guidelines as to what children can be exposed to in peak television viewing times.

However, it is more difficult to monitor harmful and unacceptable advertising on other forms of social media. Advertising works. The repetition of ads over a short period of television, reinforces the images which subconsciously can influence a child’s desires and reactions. Then why are we subjected to relentless sports-betting advertising during peak daytime periods, when it is guaranteed, children are watching television.

Where are the advertising police who need to protect our children and young adults from the ease of placing bets, using their phones, as the advertising demonstrates? We understand that $billions are lost monthly, in Australia, by those seeking to win by gambling. It is a cruel and sinister form of robbing Australians of a reasonable future, while they gamble their hard-earned money, hoping for a financial miracle. It gives false hope and is unconscionable.

ELOISE ROWE, Tannum Sands.