Leave our kids ALONE. About us Leave Our Kids Alone wants a ban on all advertising targeting children under 11. As parents we aim to protect our children from the worst of the adult world. We’re careful about the people our children come into contact with. Teachers, care assistants, medics, child minders; they’re all vetted and most have to be qualified. Above all they’re expected to have the best interests of our children at heart. That’s not true of advertising. Advertising is a £12 Billion a year industry in the UK alone. We believe that’s wrong. We believe children should be free to grow up without today’s intense commercial pressures, to become young citizens and not just little consumers. Congress Looks at Ads in Schools. Ads of all shapes and sizes are appearing these days all over schools — at soda machines, in hallways, on football scoreboards, even on in-house TV.
More and more American schools are taking advantage of extra cash doled out by companies and corporations in exchange for the ads, according to a report released today by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The report did not say whether such ads were appropriate. It reported that many companies, while showing ads, were gathering such information as addresses, ZIP codes and purchasing habits from students, sometimes without the knowledge of school officials who contracted with the companies. Also, the officials rarely needed permission from parents or others to use commercial products, the report said. The findings bother critics. “The failure of society to properly fund those schools should not be subsidized by selling the privacy of these children and their families,“ Rep.
A Difficult Bargain Little Regulation. Hey, advertisers, leave our defenceless kids alone | George Monbiot. 'Advertising in schools offers corporations a genuine captive market.' Illustration by Daniel Pudles How many people believe this makes the world a better place? A company called TenNine has hung hoardings in the corridors and common rooms of 750 British schools. Among its clients are Nike, Adidas, Orange, Tesco and Unilever. It boasts that its "high impact platform delivers right to the heart of the 11-18 year old market". Other firms are closing in. Advertising in schools offers corporations a genuine captive market. Every year, advertisers press a little further into our lives, shrinking the uncontaminated space in which we may live. But at least adults have some defences. These defenceless people are being pursued with precision and ruthlessness, and governments fail to protect them.
In his book Childhood Under Siege, Joel Bakan shows how computer games and social networking are being merged to create new advertising platforms. All this is promoted as fun and freedom. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Advertisements aimed at young children are immoral and should be banned.