Young people as consumers

[Boyd Roberts]

 We are fast approaching Christmas – a time of year when people in many parts of the world traditionally give gifts to one another. But Christmas has been exploited by marketers and ad-men to create a spending frenzy and the original idea of giving gifts to people we care about can get lost.

Within the IGC Award students consider their own spending as part of their personal global footprint. The time around Thanksgiving and Christmas seems like a good time to give this more attention. Students can record their thoughts and reflections here.

Here are some resources and suggestions that could help.

International Buy Nothing Day always falls on the day after the American Thanksgiving in November, traditionally the first day of Christmas shopping! People are encouraged to not make any purchases throughout the entire day. The idea is to increase participants' awareness of their spending habits and to think about mass consumerism and its effect on the cultural and natural environment of the world.

Associated with this day, the Canadian website Media Awareness Network provides a list of questions for students to discuss and reflect on, and some simple activities: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/advertising_marketing/buy_nothing_day.cfm

On the same site, Marketing to teens: talking back is a 30 minute activity that helps students (grades 7-12) become active consumers by encouraging them to 'talk back' to advertisers when they have concerns.

Buy Nothing Christmas is an initiative of Canadian Mennonite Christians, trying to make Christmas less commercial. But the site has lots of ideas for anyone who wishes to avoid the hype and advertising associated with Christmas spending.

The site includes ideas for ways of giving Christmas gifts which don’t fuel consumerism. http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/alternatives/index.html 

Alternative Gifts International is a US site that offers gifts that make a difference by supporting specific humanitarian or environmental projects. By giving a gift through the site, you can benefit the person you give to, and the people involved in the project you support.

Oxfam Unwrapped offers a variety of gifts which benefit development projects undertaken by the UK-based development agency Oxfam. Give a goat, chickens, school supplies, teacher training to benefit people in the developing world. Visit http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped

Gift cards can be delivered worldwide. 

For background:

 

Children as consumers

A series of short web articles and quotes form Anup Shah’s Global Issues website:

http://www.globalissues.org/article/237/children-as-consumers

 

Turning Children Into Consumers by Sharon Beder, an Australian political analyst

http://www.medialens.org/alerts/09/090629_turning_children_into.php