4 09, 2012

Raise Children, Not Consumers

By | September 4th, 2012|Categories: Parenting, Popular Culture|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Popular culture, few could argue, attempts to manipulate your children’s needs and wants and motivate them to buy food, toys, clothing, electronics, and other products that have no redeeming value, are unhealthy, or send them the wrong messages. Popular culture is big business, to the tune of $1.2 billion a year in advertising in 2010, a double-digit increase over 2009. Research has also shown that children have influence in their family over the food and drink purchases of $100 billion each year, much of it unhealthy. Popular culture wants you to raise consumers, not children! The line between entertainment and advertising is becoming increasingly blurred. For example, The Hub, a television network aimed at children that has a 50 percent ownership stake by the toy manufacturer Hasbro was launched in 2010. Commercials aside, this channel’s programming is basically a direct marketing platform for selling Hasbro toys. Additionally, the recent technological advances have enabled companies that market to children to create “supersystems” around their brands that incorporate 360-degree multimedia universes devoted exclusively to selling their products that include television shows, web sites, YouTube videos, fan clubs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and video games, as well as traditional advertising. As Robert Iger, the President of Walt Disney, comments, “Reaching dramatically and deeply,…” has allowed Disney to, “...enter the hearts and minds of people all over the world.” Do you really want Disney and the like to enter your children’s hearts and minds? I sure don’t.

5 06, 2012

YouTube Channel: Positive Pushing: How to Raise a Successful and Happy Child

By | June 5th, 2012|Categories: YouTube Channel|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

I just uploaded a 60-minute talk to my YouTube channel on Positive Pushing: How to Raise a Successful and Happy Child that I gave recently at the Stevenson School in Carmel CA. To learn more, visit my Prime Family and Speaking Topics web pages.  

13 02, 2012

Children’s Emotional Reactions to Achievement

By | February 13th, 2012|Categories: Parenting|Tags: , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

These days, children seem to be given every opportunity by their parents to achieve success in school, sports, and the performing arts. Children receive private tutoring, coaching, and instruction. They attend summer camps devoted to their achievement activity. They seem to be assured of having every possible skill necessary to achieve success. Except one: emotional [...]

2 05, 2011

Three Words for Better Parenting

By | May 2nd, 2011|Categories: Parenting|Tags: , , , , , , , |2 Comments

I have a confession to make: I wrote my first two parenting books before I had children. Is this a great country or what, where you can become an "expert" at something you have never done before (of course, I had worked with families for many years in my practice)? I now have two children [...]