Examining the Price of Consumerism

Photo by Brian Ulrich
Smithhaven, New York, 2003
For his project:
Copia: Snapshots of Consumer Culture

I had a realization tonight. My discomfort with technology doesn't have to do with the technology itself. It has to do with the messages that comes with it, and with the time that using technology takes away from our relationships and responsibilities.

It's the inundation of material messages through technology and media that causes me some of the most angst. I believe that the more advertising you see, the more unhappy you become. Marketers know that to motivate you to buy their product starts with pointing out a perceived flaw in your life. You aren't pretty enough. You're too stressed. You're unappreciated...so why don't you treat yourself?

Kids are exposed to up to 40,000 TV advertisements a year (American Psychological Association), and they are learning how to value themselves through these emotional messages of discontent. They are learning to hold material goods in high esteem, and according to research, they are taking on more debt to pay for their "stuff."

I found an organization that seems to embody my defining values and the life that I want to create for myself and my kids. The Center for a New American Dream focuses on "the connections between consumption, quality of life, and the environment has made New Dream unique among environmental and progressive groups."

To me, refreshing.

Here is one compelling video about our material culture that is found on the New American Dream's web site. The High Price of Materialism examines "how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being." Watch it. Examine it. We could all learn from it.

Gingerbread Houses in August

 After hearing the phrase, "I'm bored" many times last weekend, I came up with this craft that kept the kids interested for a good chunk of time, keeping us from falling back on the TV for entertainment. A successful craft is no small feat for me - I am certainly not very "crafty." The kids loved playing with the candy and creating some cute gingerbread houses, and I loved cleaning out the pantry.

All you need are graham crackers, frosting and candy pieces. Oh, and a broom.

Here are our creations. My daughters love this so much that asked to do this activity for three days straight. So it was definitely a hit!

New School Supports Screen-Free Week

I recently found out that my proposal to bring Screen-Free Week to our local elementary school was accepted! I'm officially on the PTO board as the chairperson for the event.

The dates for Screen-Free Week are April 29-May 5, 2013. I have some time to plan, but look forward to the opportunity to share the message of event, which is an "annual celebration where children, families, schools and communities turn off screens and turn on life. Instead of relying on entertainment, participants read, daydream, explore, enjoy nature, and enjoy spending time with family and friends."

More About Channel One

Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood

Coincidentally, I received this email message about Channel One just a few hours after I published my post about the company.

Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood has got the company in its cross hairs, and is rallying concerned citizens to urge their state's departments of education to investigate Channel One's practices. CCFC says:

And now, in a desperate attempt to make up for lost revenue, Channel One is escalating its daily commercial assault by advertising inappropriate and disreputable websites to students and  turning entire broadcasts into ads.

The organization says that Channel One shouldn't be allowed in schools because:

* It’s waste of students’ time and taxpayers’ money.

* Channel One violates its contract with schools by exceeding the agreed-upon limit on commercial content. 

* Channel One promotes websites that are inappropriate for children and teens.

To take action, contact your state's department of education and let them know that captive video advertising in the public schools is inappropriate. Just find your state on the page and click the link. CCFC has an email template form that's easy to use and send. I did so for my home state.

For further information about Channel One's marketing practices to school age kids, check out Obligation.org.

Youth Marketing Company Active in Schools

Did you know that a youth marketing company advertises to up to 5.5 million middle and high school students in 8,000 American schools through an educational news program?

Channel One contracts with schools to provide the use of audio-visual equipment. In exchange, the schools agree to show Channel One News, a 12-minute, daily TV show with 10 minutes of news programming and two minutes of commercials. Commercials include everything from video games to movies and beauty products.

According to Jim Metrock, founder of the grassroots organization Obligation.org, the time spent watching Channel One programming translates to at least 32 hours of lost instructional time a year, and seven weeks of lost instructional time for a middle and high school career.

This is particularly upsetting to Metrock, whose organization aims to remove marketers like Channel One from the schools. “Kids should be using school time to learn, to study,” he says. “Schools should be a marketplace of ideas, not a marketplace for products.”

Further, Metrock says, “Schools should be a place that promotes critical thinking skills. An advertisement is the opposite of that. These ads depend on emotional response. Commercials make you feel bad about yourself in order to make you want to buy something that can make you better.”

For those schools that broadcast Channel One News, Metrock would like to see classroom time allocated to discuss or deconstruct the program. “There just isn't time for teachers to help students deconstruct the powerful commercials they are forced to watch.”

Channel One promotes itself as the “leading television news network for teens nationwide. Our mission is to inform, educate and inspire by making news relevant and engaging for young people and sparking discussion around the important issues impacting youth today.” Reading their press releases, parents might have no idea that Channel One is a leading marketing company to teens and preteens (or tweens).

The company is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing, which is not shy about its purpose: “Capturing the attention of CONSUMERS. Creating conversations that fuel POP CULTURE MOVEMENTS.” Further, “Alloy Digital controls the top ranked and largest media and advertising network of youth targeted websites...and, Alloy Education offers the most comprehensive youth database.”

Parents Can Help

Channel One does not disclose the name of schools in which it broadcasts. So many parents don’t know about the program. "It’s almost like its invisible to parents and the school board,” says Metrock.

First, ask your sixth through 12th grade student if Channel One is in his school. If the school broadcasts the program, Metrock does not recommend going directly to the principal. “You may be the only one complaining about the program, and that’s not enough to motivate the principal to reexamine the contract.”

Instead, he advises that concerned parents garner the support of other parents and act together. Once a group is organized, going to the principal and the school board with objections will be more effective.

Schoolchildren need their parents to be advocates for commercial-free classrooms. They do that by learning about Channel One and then by reminding school officials that schools are to serve students, not advertisers.

Facts and Opinions in the Internet World

Here is a brilliantly-written, satirical editorial by Rex W. Huppke, Chicago Tribune reporter. The author mourns the death of Facts, and writes an obituary.

Political in nature, the editorial also alludes to information overload in the digital age:

To the shock of most sentient beings, Facts died Wednesday, April 18, after a long battle for relevancy with the 24-hour news cycle, blogs and the Internet.

and

American society has lost confidence that there's a single alternative...Anybody can express an opinion on a blog or any other outlet and there's no system of verification or double-checking, you just say whatever you want to and it gets magnified. It's just kind of a bizarre world in which one person's opinion counts as much as anybody else's.

I love this editorial and its commentary on modern life. I learned long ago, probably in college, that 47% of statistics are false. Today, that number is probably a lot higher. (This is, of course, an old joke.)

In all seriousness, I probably take very little that I read as 100% concrete, unwavering and factual. Don't polls include a margin of error? Aren't researchers trained that there is also a margin of error in their data? Are you ever sure who is funding the studies that provide the "facts?"

I write this little blog and I quote a lot of research and data. I try my best to use legitimate sources and provide lots of references so the reader can read on. Still, the information I share is only as good as the sources that I use. And I hope that the information I reference is as accurate and unbiased as possible.

One last quote from the editorial:

Opinion has become the new truth. And many people who already have opinions see in the 'news' an affirmation of the opinion they already had, and that confirms their opinion as fact.

Studies in psychology teach us that people often internalize what confirms their original beliefs, and they tend to ignore or refute things that are contrary.

I share my opinions on this blog. But you never know... I could be wrong about things. Still, my hope is that we as parents take a moment to stop and think about how technology might influence our individual families in ways that we may not want. We need to be in charge of our families' media consumption and screen time, and not let the technology be in charge.

We need to take pause, determine our priorities for our kids - and for ourselves as parents, partners and spouses - and move those priorities to the top of the list.

Bullying Teachers and Digital Citizenship

An article by Christine Armario with the Associated Press reported on incidents of students bullying teachers, principals and other school employees. A few examples:

* In New York, Karen Klein, a bus monitor, was tormented to tears by students taunting her, including references to her dead son - and it was all captured on video and posted to YouTube.

*  In Maryland, students posed as their principal's children on pedophile websites. In other locations, students claim to be their teachers "on to neo-Nazi and white supremacist sties claiming to be a Jewish or minority teacher and inciting the group's anger. Others have stolen photographs from teacher's cell phones and posted them online."

* In Florida, a student started a Facebook site for other kids to express their hatred for teacher Sarah Phelps. The student, who eventually took the site down, was suspended and disciplined by the principal. But the ACLU backed the student's right to free speech, and she won $15,000 in damages and attorneys fees in a suit against the principal.

I don't know any details of this last case other than what was published in Armario's article. Maybe Ms. Phelps is a terrible teacher. But maybe she's a darn good one, or even somewhere in between. Regardless of her teaching abilities, her case seems to highlight how the right to Free Speech through the digital means can encroach on a person's right to common respect and dignity. As a society, I'm not sure we've given this enough reflection. A person obviously has the right to ruin his or her own reputation. But do we have the right to do it for them using widespread digital means? The issue is gray, according to our court system, which is inconsistent with their rulings with similar cases (see Wired, 2010).

Bullying and assaults on others' reputations is nothing new, of course, but it seems that with social networking and other online tools, it's easier than ever to do. According to Pew Internet and American Life Project, online harassment and bullying is different from traditional forms of bullying because of the speed and breadth of how messages are distributed, and because inhibitions are lower through "computer-mediated communication."

I thought the teachers had some insightful words. While Ms. Phelps encouraged parents to turn kids' mistakes into "teachable moments," she said in a written statement: "We need to redefine and expand our definitions of bullying, particularly techno-spread bullying devoid of personal accountability and disseminated under the guise of free speech."

Klein, the bus monitor, asked in an interview why students "would treat a bus monitor in a way they would not treat their own grandmother." She poses an interesting question. Why would we not do unto others as you would have them do to you - our your loved ones? 

Are we ready to throw that age-old principal out the window as we send a message that publicly bullying teachers - or anyone - is a viable form of expression? With all the positives that the Internet brings: enhanced connectivity, a sense of community, and access to information at our fingertips, individuals also have so much more power to hurt one another through the use of our social networks and other online tools.

We can't legislate digital citizenship, but we can still be good digital citizens. We can support those who have been hurt by bullying. And we can educate our children that decency and courtesy to others still apply online.


For another opinion on the Phelps case, see Fast Company.

The Hazards of Sitting: Decreased Life Expectancy

There have been more articles published about the dangers of sitting for long periods of time.

According to the Wall Street Journal, researchers in Louisiana studied data of "sedentary behavior" and health from a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They concluded that sitting for just three hours a day can decrease life expectancy by two years, regardless of physical activity and other habits. Watching two hours or more of TV daily can further decrease life expectancy by another 1.4 years.

These findings echo results from other recent studies in Australia and Finland, which also point to the serious hazards of prolonged sitting. According to these studies, long periods of sitting - even when combined with daily physical activity - is connected to risks of cancer, heart conditions, and diabetes and other glucose management issues.

These studies are significant for office workers, who spend an average of eight hours a day - and as many as 15 hours a day - at a desk in front of their computer (Office-Ergo.com). The Wall Street Journal article says,

Last year, scientists found that people who worked 10 years in sedentary jobs, or jobs that don't require a lot of energy expenditure, had twice the risk of colon cancer and a 44% increased risk of rectal cancer, compared with people who had never worked sedentary jobs.

Those of us with desk jobs can help ourselves by standing or moving at least every hour. I guess I'm advocating more trips to the water cooler, employee lounge or restroom. Or at least take more walks to talk face-to-face with someone in your office that you could otherwise email, or stand up while taking that conference call.

Practicing Presence: Where Have I Been?

When I started this blog, my intention was to write nearly every day. I followed through for about three and a half months. Then, two things happened to derail my goal.

First: summer vacation. This happens to me every year: my kids get out of school for the summer, and I struggle to find a new rhythm to the daily routine. I still work from home, but the hours of constructive work time diminish (summer childcare is expensive - and I can only afford so many hours).

I won't complain, however. Kids need their time "off" from their obligations, just like adults do, so I'm thankful that summer's here. And it's good for me, too. I'm making an effort to reconnect with my kids in a way that's different from the rest of the year, to make those summertime family memories that we all envision holding onto in later life.

Second: I was spending too much time on the computer. Oh, the irony of it all. As I researched and wrote pieces for the blog about our tendency toward the excessive use of devices, I began to feel exposed, as if there was a great big, blinking arrow in the sky pointing right at me, saying "guilty!"

I am, to be honest, tired of my computer and my phone. I want more freedom. I need boundaries. I want to be a better role model for my kids so that when they get phones, they won't ditch me completely for their online world. So I made a few changes:

* I moved my laptop to the guest room, which now doubles as my office. Unlike the office-slash-dining room table, the guest room has a door. I can literally close myself off from my work and my computer when it's time to go. My phone stays in here, too, as much as possible. Sherry Turkle encourages the concept of "sacred spaces" in the home where devices are not allowed (i.e. dinner table). In the same way, I've created a space for my devices to stay and not invade the rest of the house. The physical boundaries are now set.

* I took a trip a few weekends ago and left my phone sitting in the hotel room for three days. I got a massage to get the knots out of my neck and shoulder directly related to my computer usage, something I've not done in several years. I read books and played with my kids. It was a wonderful trip, good for fostering psychological boundaries between me and my devices.

* I've stopped answering texts right away, and my personal email is piling up. I apologize to all those wondering where I've gone. It's a better place, I assure you.

* I've stopped writing blog pieces for a few weeks. I need a pause. The article ideas for the blog have piled up, however, and I look forward to sharing more thoughts... in time.

An admired church and community leader, Kim Lee, is currently inspiring the parents in her congregation to examine being "present" in our daily lives. She writes, "The practice of presence is about coming alive and awake wherever we are. Presence requires three basic steps: slow down, tune in, and focus." In my brief hiatus from the blog, I've been trying to do just that.