Children feel pressure to follow trends
London,
Feb
27:
Children
obsessed
with
fashionable
clothes
and
technological
gadgets
could
be
at
higher
risk
of
mental
health
problems,
psychologists
warn.
Kids
feel
under
pressure
to
have
the
latest
in
everything
from
toys
to
trainers
and
are
left
anxious
and
depressed
if
they
are
unable
to
keep
up
with
trends,
the
report
found.
The
findings
from
the
Children's
Society's
inquiry
into
the
state
of
childhood
said
children
need
good
adult
role
models,
'not
stick-thin
fashion
models,
drug-addled
rock
stars
or
obscenely
rich
footballers'.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, patron of the inquiry, Dr Rowan Williams said, ''Children should be encouraged to value themselves for who they are as people rather than what they own,'' he added. Children are teased for 'being different' and feel under pressure to be fashionable, the inquiry found. A ten year old girl said, ''A lot of the time I feel I have to follow the trends and if I don't, people just laugh at me!'' Many parents expressed concerns about the commercialisation of childhood to the inquiry. Of more than 1,200 adults surveyed, 89 per cent said they believed children were more materialistic than those of past generations.
90 per cent of surveyers claimed advertising aimed at children over Christmas put pressure on parents to spend more than they could afford. Professor Philip Graham, emeritus professor of child psychiatry at the Institute of Health, London, believe commercial pressures have worrying psychological effects on children.
''It could be that the most anxious, miserable children are trying to buy things to comfort themselves or it could be that actually wanting things you can't have is frustrating and depressing. Either way, that's not very good,'' he said.
''I would say it's probable that some depression and anxiety youngsters have is because of the frustration that's engendered by all the advertising, the commercial pressures that are directed towards children,'' The Daily Mail quoted him as saying.
''When they are younger, parents should limit the amount of TV, DVDs and exposure to the internet and advertising that children have,'' Prof Graham advised.
UNI