Kids have a lot more money than they used to. They are also exposed to a great deal more advertising, not only in front of the television and computer at home, but even at school, through Channel One. As a result, children as young as 18 months can identify a brand, and their desires influence how adults spend billions of dollars.

Psychiatrist Juliet Schor, author of Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture, has discovered that this involvement with consumer culture leads children into more conflict with parents. It also contributes to anxiety, illness, and depression in some children. Schor sums up the message commercialized children receive:

They're more likely to have poor self-esteem, which is not a surprise because a lot of the messages consumer culture sends them are that you're nobody if you don't have the right tennis shoes or you're not drinking the right soft drink. Life isn't fun unless you're eating candy. Your parents are nerds. Your teachers are nerds. School is a bore.