America, the land of wealth and prosperity. The place where you are free to say what you want and dress how you please. You can eat what you want, and buy what you want. This freedom became the symbol of America and it started as something other countries would strive for. Now others make fun of our overgrowing image of materialism. Many of us say will die before we live without certain materialistic things we think we need. This is a problem that must be solved.

It’s not hard to see that materialism is not only a problem for children and teens but also for adults. The issue Americans have with wanting things they don’t need has been going on for a long time now. As a nation we exploded after world war two when having so little turned into having so much. We knew we deserved more then what we had during those hard times. The economic boom after World War II allowed more people than ever to be able to purchase homes, cars, ect. This acquisition of material possessions fed upon itself and hasn’t slowed down since. We can see this in the ways that American adults will spend more than they have on credit now a days to acquire what they want sending them into a pile of debt that some will never be able to repay. These bad spending habits and the obsession for objects one doesn’t need will rub off on generations to come if we do not somehow find a way to prevent this. We must change the way Americans decide on what they really need and what they think they need.

According to Deborah Roedder John, author of Growing up in a Material World: Age Differences in Materialism in Children and Adolescents, “the level of materialism in teens is directly driven by self-esteem.” Of course teens have always had problems with being self conscious, but if this is the true reason then we must do something about the issue at hand. “Particularly relevant,” said John, “is the fact that by simply increasing self-esteem in teens, we see a decreased focus on material goods that parallels that of young children. While peers and marketing can certainly influence teens, materialism is directly connected to self-esteem.” For parents wanting to instill positive values in their children and teens: encouraging a sense of self-worth among young people can reduce the huge emphasis on material goods, listen to this. More self-esteem equals fewer $150 athletic shoes and $250 purses. Somehow we are still seeing shows like toddlers in tiaras where parents are spending thousands of dollars on fake teeth for perfect smiles and dresses that are only to ever be worn once or twice. Everyone is influenced by what they surround themselves with so don’t watch shows like these and come up with an allowance for your kids to learn to spend. Maybe even make them earn it!

How is materialism affecting my peers at Woodland Park High School? I conducted a survey amongst my classmates to assess the feeling of my peers on the subject. My study found that: 1) 70% of students said yes to being asked “if their life plan included things they believed to be materialistic”, 2) When students were asked on a scale of one to ten “how important is your ownership of the things you have in your life now?” One being not important and ten being that you can’t function without them, the average answer to this question was 5, and 3) 96%of students said yes when asked “Are Americans too materialistic?” When asked to explain their answer one student said “I believe that some are but not all depends on how you grew up.

With all of the social media and online networking surrounding our young people it’s hard for them not to be influenced by the images of materialism shown through these sites. One of the latest examples of this is a Tumblr blog, Rich Kids of Instagram. The blog shows photos from instagram of young Americans showing off how they are enjoying the vast wealth of their parents. According to market research company, C+R Research, “Many parents already know older children can be materialistic. Some tweens not only want the latest games and clothes, but also think owning these things will bring them happiness, friends and popularity. And marketers are eager to get them to buy: Tweens spend $28 billion a year, not including the more than $200 billion their parents spend on them.” Wealth and things doesn’t equal happiness.

We are on a constant downward spiral of materialism and debt. If this continues then all our children and generations to come will only have one idea in their head. This being, that objects they acquire will make them happy. Without said objects they won’t be accepted in our society. Some may not even be able to live without things they want. Is this really what we want America’s standard of living to come to? “Even though our economy has had some rough times, we still have a higher standard of living than 99 percent of the humans that have ever lived on this planet have had,” according to Michael Snyder, author of Is America The Most Materialistic Society In The History Of The World? It just isn’t enough.

You aren’t the things you own so let go of them. Go basic and change the way you see the things you actually need compared to the things you just want. Stop buying useless junk. Try and donate every once in a while. Also, take the focus off yourself and the items you want. Donate your time to a shelter, you will then see how much it is you really have compared to others. Count your blessings, and realize that you don’t always really need the things you think you need. Don’t only change the way you think to yourself. Spread your views on the subject and you might get other people thinking about how they can change the way they see materialism as well. Turn off the TV and turn the other cheek to the images that surround us. They tell us we must have these things to survive but you don’t need them.

Ultimately, to stop the obsession over materialistic items, we must change the way we think. Remember that it’s up to you to change materialism in our country, and change our future outlook on our standard of living, with or without certain items.


Works Cited

1. http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/08/15/14-tips-for-a-less-materialistic-livestyle/
2. http://michaelsnyder.mensnewsdaily.com/2012/09/is-america-the-most-materialistic-society-in-the-history-of-the-world/
3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/seen-rich-kids-of-instagram-about-that-gold-plated-ak-47/2012/08/17/c5bfdc40-e7ce-11e1-a3d2-2a05679928ef_blog.html
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/health/08iht-snmat.html?_r=0
5. http://www.crown.org/Library/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=761