What is materialism?
It’s when someone values material possessions as more important in their life than spiritual values such as family, religion and well being. Materialism could have been caused by several reasons. One of the causes of materialism could be that the Christian religion declined in Britain in the 20th century, this made people want a sense of belonging again because of the sense of belonging they lost if religion is no longer in their life. In the 2001 Census, 41 million people (that's 72% of the population) gave their religion as ‘Christian’, but there were also 15.7 million people who either stated they had no religion, refused to say or had another religion. However, 390,000 people declared themselves 'Jedi', the religion that features in the Star Wars films! This phenomenon could have been caused by the consumerism of the fictional film called “Star Wars,” this also supports the idea that we as a society are dramatically affected by what we consume through the media. Many people simply do not believe in God and for lots of people religion is simply irrelevant to their way of life.
So have we become a self-centred society, preoccupied with materialism?
Materialism is having an immense impact on teenagers. According to a survey in 2007, 71% of teenagers are materialistic and said they would be happier if they had “more money to spend on themselves,” seeming to care only about their appearance and what items they can buy such as shoes, clothing, jewellery and the latest technology. Furthermore, it can be concerning for parents to witness their child becoming more money-oriented and valuing material items more than they value learning and becoming a better person. Advertisers and media could be to blame for the increase in materialistic teenagers but it is also believed that young people with low self-esteem are susceptible to becoming materialistic. They use material items to make them happy and to feel a sense of belonging among their peers. However, high self-esteem teenagers gain happiness through friendships, being good at sports or by helping other people. Many young people feel that it is imperative to portray a materialistic image and they have a strong desire to fit in within their peer groups. Some teenagers believe that the best way to fit in is to have the same material items as the other teenagers. If they don’t, they fear being excluded and alone from other members of their age group. After someone becomes materialistic they tend to want more and more, they do not appreciate what they have already. Not only are teenagers being pressured into being materialistic by peers but also being encouraged through social media sites such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook but there are many more sites that promote greediness. Social media is very popular, especially among teenagers. At this age they tend to look up to famous figures, including athletes and celebrities more than you would at any other age, if their role models have something new and expensive then they will want to have it too. No one is born materialistic; they’re made that way. It is not just the media and advertisers to blame for the increased level of materialistic teenagers, parents can also be responsible for this by over-indulging their children by buying them anything that their heart desires. Parents might do this because of their busy lifestyles and they feel that they should make it up to their children by buying them whatever they want, parents do this to help themselves feel better for neglecting their children and for not spending enough time with them. Parents can do numerous things to help make their child less materialistic and some of these things are spending more time having fun with your children instead of buying them items to make up for lost time. Encourage them to socialise and join clubs and groups that will help them focus on who they are as a person rather than what they own.
Don’t you want to focus on who you are rather than what you own?
Written by Katie Trebes
The Sydney Russell School
