Program for January 24, 2010

DEBATE: IS ADVERTISING HARMFUL TO CHILDREN?

Advertising has grown to a multi-billion dollar empire, in which large corporations pay huge amounts of money to influence public attitudes and consumers’ habits. Often, the benefits of these corporations’ products and services are dubious; sometimes, they can even be harmful. Children are particularly vulnerable because they’re naïve and easy to influence.

Group Discussion (30 minutes)

You’ll have 30 minutes for group discussion to prepare yourselves for an open debate that comes later. You might want to start by answering/discussing the following questions:

• Are there any commercial products or services that might have negative effects on children’s physical and mental development? Can you give some examples?
• Who should be the person to decide whether a product is good or bad for a child? Should that person be the child him/herself? How about his/her parents, educational or health experts, government regulators?
• Do you think that advertisements give all the necessary (and accurate) facts for a person to decide if a product is good or bad? What if that person is a child?
• Is it still a free market if manufacturers are not free to advertise their products? Will it harm their ability to produce high-quality products? Should we let the free market decide which products are good and which are bad?

Open Debate (1 hour 30 minutes)

Vocabulary

harmful (adjective):

có hại

influence (noun, verb):

noun: ảnh hưởng, uy thế, thế lực; verb: làm ảnh hưởng, gây ảnh hưởng, tác động đến, chi phối.

attitude (noun):

thái độ, quan điểm

habit (noun):

thói quen, tập quán

vulnerable (adjective):

yếu đuối, dễ bị tổn thương (cả về thể chất lẫn tinh thần)

naïve (adjective):

ngây thơ, nhẹ dạ

fact (noun):

(trong ngữ cảnh của bài này:) dữ liệu

dubious (adjective):

đáng ngờ, chưa rõ ràng

corporation (noun):

công ty (thường dùng cho các tập đoàn lớn)

manufacturer (noun):

nhà sản xuất