For as long as there have been Saturday morning cartoons, there have been Saturday morning commercials targeting young sponge-like minds. (Yes, I note the irony that I am complaining about something like this.)
From what I remember of Saturday mornings long ago, the commercials that used to interrupt shows like Super Friends and Land of the Lost focused on sugary cereal that we could only hope to eat at our grandparents' house, and the toys that everybody had and no child could possibly live without.
In the last two years, watching with my children, I've noticed the messages have expanded to include Happy Meal toys, cool shoes and various craft supplies.
This morning I noticed a new trend. More and more commercials are directing children to go online and visit their websites. Even the non-commercial stations do it. AJ today informed me that, "if we go to p-b-s-kids-dot-org, we can do anything we want. We can play games. It's online."
"Do you know what online means?" I asked.
"No," he admitted.
I explained that online is on the computer, like when we go to the Playmobile website where he likes to play what he calls "playset games."
A little later, while watching a commercial for a yogurt smoothie product that was advertising a contest, he again quoted their web address and told me we needed to go see if we had won. I explained there was no chance we had won, since we hadn't bought the product they were selling.
I can see this becoming a growing issue in years to come, as he becomes more computer savvy. Suddenly I'm getting a glimpse of what other parents have understood for years. That the online world of possibilities is not such a friendly place for overly receptive young minds.
That idea I had of someday putting a computer in the basement? Not going to happen! Any computer in our house is going to be where I can see it at all times.
(By the way, the photo at the top is from a playground visit yesterday. Pirate AJ was in the midst of an intense battle.)
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