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Originally Posted by pearlieq
Kids should be exposed to commercials, but preferrably only when they're old enough to understand them in context and to view them with a critical eye. At a certain age they're simply not capable of that kind of thought--their brains are working on other things at the time.
But once they get old enough for critical thinking (late grade school-ish) it would be good for parents to sit down and watch TV, commercials and all, with kids and discuss the messages being broadcast. It's a very valuable lesson for parents to teach!
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Late grade-schoolish? Methinks thou art underestimating thy children.
IMHO, which is only MHO, any child that is old enough to read, do math, eat lunch in the school cafeteria, and understand that running into the street is dangerous is old enough to be taught that not everything they see is true and not everybody who acts friendly is really their friend. It's sad that we need to do that, but it is the real world we live in.
So, I respectfully disagree and suggest 6-7yo as a reasonable age to begin teaching the basics of critical/logical thinking, if not sooner. I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed while I was growing up, but I was taught the basics bit by bit as soon as I could comprehend them, and by the time I was 12yo (6th grade) I was perfectly comfortable doing most of our family's grocery shopping by myself with just a basic grocery list.
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Originally Posted by pearlieq
I personally support censoring commercials like I support not taking your 7 year old to R-rated movies.
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I believe critical-thinking lessons that involve commercials are just an extension of other basic-logic lessons like, "the more a person tries to carry all at once, the more likely they are to drop something."
The limited exposure to comercials and other ads that I'm talking about is something that should happen naturally, the same way other safety lessons are taught, with the parent as teacher/guide providing limited exposure that's well within safe limits, asking questions to assess understanding, and providing information when appropriate to stimulate thinking.
To use your analogy: it's the same as answering questions truthfully but with limited detail when your kid discovers the underwear section of a mail-order catalog. There's a world of difference between that, and taking them to an R-rated movie.
Happy parenting. At least we both have the comfort of knowing that there are
no perfect solutions; only reasonable responses to common situations.
