It was supposed to be an emotionally moving, reality-TV moment, but it didn't go entirely as planned. Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Schofield's room was getting a complete makeover, thanks to the folks at "Trading Spaces Kids," a cable TV spin-off of the popular "Trading Spaces" show for adults.

Even after designers had lavished a thousand dollars on remaking Jennifer's room with sky-blue walls, hand-painted fluffy clouds, a spacious bed made out of a real wooden boat, a boardwalk, a cotton candy machine, a smoothie maker and a dart game, Jennifer wasn't happy. She was crying, and these were not tears of joy. "I don't think she likes it," the show's designer told a reporter from The Washington Post, who watched as the segment was filmed.

Minor disappointments like this haven't stopped manufacturers, retailers and advertisers from targeting that multibillion dollar market consisting of teens, tweens, and other kids. Think of it as Martha Stewart meets Rugrats meets Madison Avenue.

You also may want to think of it as a form of "spiritual formation," even though nobody calls it that. As a youth worker, you probably have an idea of what you'd like to achieve with your kids. Your plan may not always be totally thought-out or successfully executed, but you have an idea of what kind of people you'd like your kids to become.

Sellers are even more precise about what kinds of young people they like to create. For these corporate titans, it's all about kids who live and breathe to consume. As shows such as "Trading Spaces Kids" reveal, there's no shortage of consuming kids in North America today.

You can read about it in Susan Lynn's disturbing new book Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood (New Press, $24.95). Lynn, a psychologist and child advocate, paints a frightening (but not overblown) portrait of a $15 billion industry that cares more about the financial bottom line than it does about what's best for kids, their parents or our society.

Whether they package cartoons such as the Teletubbies as "educational programming," load children's breakfast cereal and snacks full of ungodly amounts of sugar, or intentionally teach kids how to nag adults into buying them new things, businesses have few qualms about transforming kids into consumers.

The assault on kids is a multi-faceted program that leaves no age group without its own unique products and come-ons.

Teens

Pottery Barn Teens, the teen-oriented division of the successful home products corporation, offers dozens of room packages in its glossy catalogs. The Instant Replay package for teen boys includes a Shadowbox Media Cabinet for junior's electronic gadgets (a bargain at only $999) as well as complementing chairs, game tables, carpeting and wall decorations. With a bed, the complete room package would set mom and dad back more than $2,000. There are girls' packages, too, complete with a wide range of color-coordinated accessories (chairs, curtains, sheets, blankets, towels, lamps, storage bins, etc.).