Can worried parents counter the messages portrayed by Bratz dolls and other products aimed at children? DANIEL BEREHULAK/GETTY IMAGES Visit the Photo Place

Companies are marketing trash to our kids--and we're buying it

The challenge of buying for kids

Date published: 11/30/2005

WASHINGTON--Shopping for kids seems to be getting harder every year. I hear from parents across the country who are shocked every time they shop--not just by the prices, but by the toys and other desirables on children's wish lists.

Do we really want our 4-year old princesses dressing dolls that look like street-walkers? Do we want our teenage daughters to dress that way? Do we want our adolescent sons spending hours playing video games that make a sport of killing policemen and prostitutes?

What does it say about our country that some of the most popular products are so offensive? And, what can we do about it?

At a local mall, mothers have been protesting a local Victoria's Secret for a store window displaying mannequins in sexually explicit S&M poses. The mannequins model the kinds of microscopic underwear that used to be reserved for strippers, but are now on the wish lists of young teenagers.

It was not just the merchandise but also the poses that were too offensive--even by today's standards. Parents don't like having to walk past sexually explicit store windows with their children--call them crazy, but they don't think its appropriate for a family shopping mall. And they don't want G-strings marketed to adolescent girls.

The mall management responded by accusing the politely protesting moms of violating the mall code of conduct!

Mall stores across the country are carrying many of the most offensive video games that money can buy. The all-time biggest seller, "Grand Theft Auto"--now in its third version--finally graduated to an "adults only" rating, which means the game "should only be played by persons 18 years and older" and "may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity."

Several major chain stores will not carry "adults only" games, fortunately. Unfortunately, they all carry video games labeled Mature, often geared to preteens and young teens, even though they are "suitable for persons ages 17 and older" and contain "intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language."

Believe me, they look more like X.

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Date published: 11/30/2005