Blame the media or blame the parents?

I don't think it's fair to hold media accountable for human ignorance.

If the parents don't know any better, it's because they were also the product of bad parenting.

The fact is that we are lied to by the media every day. If we didn't have the media then our species would be a much more healthy and a much more active species. We used to be hunters but now we are shoppers, I don't call that evolution but the media does.

I don't understand why we'd willingly and knowingly accept being lied to about food, something incredibly important to our wellbeing.

Imagine if you went to the pharmacy for some some painkillers and they gave you cyanide, telling you "You won't feel a thing ten seconds after you've taken one of these". There'd be outrage.

Sure, food takes longer to kill you, but isn't it the same thing?

Theres nothing the parents can do to stop kids from seeing the media in some way :(

http://lora8.deviantart.com/art/LOVIN-IT-117247752

^ Guaranteed to make you laugh.

75% the parents, 21% the media and 4% the kids

The media advertises so people will buy their products, it is down to the choice of the parent to decide whether they choose to buy that particular product or not, so I'd still mainly say it is down to the parent and if you don't want your child to be influenced by the media so much then don't let them sit in front of the TV for so long

Split between the three: Media, parents, and the child him/her self.

The role of media is not to raise children. Therefore, it rarely takes children's needs into account. It has a different agenda. It really should come as no surprise that most of them only want profit and children are easy targets. They then test the parents ability to filter all the information flying at them. And they don't alwys like it when we actually use our brains.

The media can influence a child, but at the end of the day, it's the parent's responsibility to raise their child.

It's the parents' fault completely. It's THEIR responsibility to raise THEIR children. It's not anyone else's responsibility. Parents today are just lazy, and looking for anything to blame for their own parental failure.

Mainly the parents but you can't get away from the media these days and it does have a bigger effect on young people. The way media is used these days is evil.

Parents need to raise their children so that they know that the media is trying to sell something to them, and so that they can judge whether it is right or wrong.

it depends! would you blame the parents for neglecting the child and having a tv babysit them whilst showing commercials and adverts of junk food and hollywood crap or would you blame the media for partly brain washing adults and therefore there children as well? seriously?

I say it is the parents fault. A parent should know what is healthy for their child. I mean it is just so obvious that a big mac is not healthy! I think it's lazy of parents to feed their children junk food, get of your butt and prepare them healthy meals that make them strong and help them to make better choices when they are grown.

I don't know about elsewhere but in the UK they are not allowed to advertise junk food eg. McD, KFC, Pizzahut, etc before 9pm so that children aren't as aware of the places as they used to be. Can't remember seeing any ads for chocolate either before 9pm ... but can't swear to that.

The media tells the parents what to do. The parents are foolish to do it, but I'd still blame the media, as well as the education system.

It's the responsibility of the media to be unbiased, and not push propaganda (although that's almost always not the case). But it's also the parents' obligation to protect their child and decide what's best for them, whether that's the food they eat, the TV they watch, the people they hang out with, etc.

Parents are ignorant to say Marilyn Manson made their kid violent because they saw aggressive imagery in his music video and interpreted it falsely, or that their child is clinically obese because they asked for McDonald's every day, due to seeing Ronald McDonald jumping around happily eating a Big Mac in an advertisement. That is just denial of responsibility. As long as parents have the ability to monitor their children's behavior and exposure towards such things, there should be no real problem.

From age 18*, the child becomes a consenting adult; free and able to make their own decisions in life. Before that, it's up to the parents. Sure the media is distorted and manipulated, but if that's so, why don't they simply stop consenting their young ones to it?

*Age laws vary from country to country.