万花筒2007-12-18:Ads' influence on Kids 广告对孩子的影响

“Blue ones.” “I also like the blue ones.” “Oh, look, look, that…” “Oh, yeah yeah yeah…, no no no…” “Yeah!” “I like that one as well.”

They may be entertaining and they may encourage these girls to add to their Christmas present/ list but are adverts¹ really putting too much pressure on children?

you really want them but your mom and dad don't really want to get them for you?"

“And I get quite excited when I see them on tele”

By the age of ten which is the average age of this group of girls, children will recognize 400 brands and watch around 10,000 TV adverts every year.
There are fears that could be leading to the commercialization of childhood as youngsters are bombarded with adverts and media images.The sexualisation of girls resulting in problems like eating disorders² and a surge in under-age binge drinking.

“What we are seeing is children some as young as 7, being worried about their weight, they are going to become anorexic, they think alcohol is the way to be really cool and all of the advertisements tell them that this is how they should act.”

So Children's Secretary Ed Balls has launched an inquiry³ into whether advertising⁴ is harming young people

“Let’s look at the detail,the evidence give the parents information about commercialization don't rush to judgement, but it’s important to have a debate about these things.”
The probe which includes internet images is part of the government’s ten-year children's plan,and could result in new regulations on advertising.Critics say labor⁵ has already had a decade to put things right, so who knows what adverts these girls will be watching in another ten years.”

1 adverts   

advertisements 广告，做广告

参考例句：

• the adverts on television 电视广告
• The adverts are not very informative. 这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。

2 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。