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Forget the penny sweets and a peashooter. It seems today’s children feel they’re “materially deprived” if they don’t have an iPod, the latest branded trainers and a family car.

In the latest sign that 21st century consumerism is impacting on our kids, a study by The Children’s Society found youngsters rely on material goods to make them fit in and feel ‘normal’.

Children aged between eight and 15 were quizzed about the ‘essentials’ of life for someone their age.

A list of the ten ‘must-have’ possessions was then drawn up – including iPod, pocket money, family holidays, a satellite TV, garden and “the right kind of clothes”.

After surveying 5,500 boys and girls, researchers found that those children lacking two or more of the items were “significantly more likely to be unhappy” than those given everything they wanted.

And those without five or more of the ‘must-haves’ were five times more likely to have “low levels of wellbeing”.
How sad, when I think of myself and youngest brother when we were kids, playing outside everyday making up games and playing along the old railway beside the house i was born in, this takes the biscuit.

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I know what you mean Jean and "pester power" is rife. I don't know what different answers the Childrens Society thought they would get from children - the saying "out of the mouths of babes" seems appropriate.

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I find it very sad that children have such materialistic values these days .

I am doing my best to make sure my grandchildren appreciate the simple things in life like the countryside...

Looking for fir cones ...

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Just look at them, they are smashing grandchildren Meg. I think we have more time to do this don't we? I have a fir cone on my windowsill right now standing in a cup, it has pigeon feathers stuck in it and a (now dead) daisy from one of mine. Just last weekend we went kite flying and conker gathering. Often go crabbing and rock-pooling. They keep all sorts here
Then they see the Christmas adverts on the TV! Last year they chimed out 'can I have that please Nan' etc .... I said I'd write it on the Big List which they were satisfied with. I was fibbing and never did write it and when they got their few Christmas presents, were over the moon and all the Big List toys were immediately forgotten.

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Mary I think more people could make time to do these things with children if they tried, you don't need lots of money and possession to enjoy yourself do you .

I am looking forward to teaching the babes to cook, my DIL bought me two little aprons as part of my Christmas gift last year

There will be no expensive gifts from the above list from this Nanna, they can have as much of my time as they like instead .

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I tend to blame parents ( Not All ) and advertisers. Parents give in to easily to their childrens demands due to the fact that they are more interested in their own social life than the bringing up of their kids correctly.

I am a tech freak, I love gadgets and often buy them on a whim but for a chiild to feel ' low levels of wellbeing ' because they do not have them is a load of C%$P.

If you ask certain questions of anyone appertaining to the need of Material things and word them so that they produce a 'Positive or Negative' answer then, unless they are rich, a Negative answer wiil be the outcome in most cases. Most people want to have the latest items and fashions so that they can just say ' I have one of those ' to make people think they are ' up with modern times '.

There is a lot more I could say about todays kids and parents but it could upset some people. lol

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Eighteen years ago I worked in a children's home run by Social Service. The children were between 11 and fifteen and received pocket money, clothes and anything they wanted really.

A young lad had been with us for several months going home at week-ends to get him and his mum used to being together again. Finally he was due to go home for good when he ran away. When he was finally found he told the policeman that he didn't want to go home to his mum and new sister because his mum couldn't afford decent trainers and had bought some from the market.

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What a gorgeous pic of your grandchildren, Meg

I agree children have too much these days to appreciate things. I taught my granddaughter how to knit and how to do French knitting, she enjoys doing both - how I wish you could still buy wooden cotton reels, though ..... it's almost impossible hammering nails into the plastic ones that are used these days. She also loves making cakes, just small fairy cakes to begin with but now she is making butterfly cakes and mixing her own buttercream to fix the wings on

My grandson loves building things so he is happy building something with Lego or putting together a balsa wood aeroplane.

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So it's a worldwide trend then. Guess there's no hope for my bf's 14 yr old daughter. She is already bugging him for the latest Blackberry for her birthday in December. She has a perfectly fine cell phone with unlimited texting, plus a laptop, tv and dvd player in her room, but thinks she's so much worse off than kids at school. She has tantrums if he won't drive her to school on a rainy day (she has an umbrella). She wants to be rich when she grows up and has been trying to think of a job that takes no effort or higher learning on her part but pays a top salary. Her mother buys her expensive clothes. When she quickly tires of them she ruins them through carelessness or hides them in the trash so she can get more new stuff whenever she visits there. I steer clear and make no comments. I raised my 3 girls quite differently and am happy to see them grown into responsible, caring adults.

So who's to blame? Parents, teachers, peer pressure....? How distressing to think that a generation so self-centred will one day be the business leaders and politicians.

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Thank you Mary and Mags for your nice comments about the twins
...there you go Mags it's spending time with them that builds an interest in doing things rather than in owning possession.

ETA , you can still get wooden cotton reels if you Google them, here are some..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...8#ht_955wt_945