"Even kids can't stand life unless they have a drink."

Shana O'Malley

Seriously, non-alcoholic beer for kids? I was so appalled when I read about this. I don’t know who should really be blamed for the growing industry of “kid version” adult products. I mean in order to have a successful business, you have to have customers so I think the root of the problem is really with the parents who are buying these products.

I don’t think it is necessarily right for companies to manufacture the items and advertise them to children but if they get a positive response from consumers then of course they are going to keep coming up with them. Its not up to advertisers to parent the children of the world, it is their job to help create a successful company.

Kids are going to see things in the media and in the world that is sexually provocative, violent and meant for adults but that doesn’t mean that parents just have to sit back and accept it. Advertisements should not be making the decisions about how a child is going to be raised and what they are going to be exposed to, the parents should be filtering what their child reads, sees, hears and plays with.

I agree with the psychologist in the article that many parents are trying to be “cool” (I mean look at the trend of young celebrity moms) and they are not differentiating their young children from young adults. I think parents are so worried about not being “cool” that they allow the media to guide them about what is “in” but ultimately I think it should be up to the parents on whether or not to accept the advertisements.