Sponsored+Schools+and+Commercialized+Classrooms

=Sponsored Schools and Commercialized Classrooms= []

A Few Key Excerpts from the Article:
"The largest area of schoolhouse commercialism appears to be Sponsorship of Programs and Activities."

"The fastest growing commercial activity appears to be Exclusive Agreements."

"Electronic Marketing, which includes television, radio, and the Internet/World Wide Web, is a relatively new development in schoolhouse commercial activity."

"Despite the pervasiveness of schoolhouse commercialism, and its continued rapid growth, the education press has had virtually nothing to say about the issue."

"The justification for the sponsorship agreements most often used by educators is the need for money. Money also drives the corporate side of the equation. It is estimated that children between the ages of 4-12 purchase or influence the purchase of goods and services worth nearly $500 billion a year."

"With school districts short of cash and the consumer power of children growing, it is not surprising that the commercial pressure on schools is increasing steadily."

"At a time when commercialism in schools and classrooms appears to be increasing dramatically, it is more than a little puzzling that educators do not seem to have much to say about it. The seeming failure of the education community to describe, attempt to understand, and assess the impact of commercial activities on the character and quality of schools and their programs is hard to explain and warrants further investigation."

The Greenbriar "Coke in Education Day"



Other Related Articles of Interest:
Captive Kids Report: Commercial Pressures on Kids at School Consumers Union []

The Commercialized Classroom by: Holley Knaus []

School Commercialization Hurts All Children, Ethnic Minority Group Children Most of All by: Alex Molnar []

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
by: E. Lockhart (Author of //The Boyfriend List)// Frankie learns from her friends that the giant corporation 'Viva' made a deal with the school for exclusive rights to sell products to the school in exchange for renovating the cafeteria. She decides to take a stand to make some healthy changes to the food in the cafeteria - a new and improved salad bar.


 * What are the ethics involved in corporations sponsoring schools? Is it always a bad thing?**

(Not every school has a secret society filled with kids with unlimited credit cards!)
 * What are some more appropriate means to make changes to your school than those which Frankie employs?**

Use the power of the internet to connect your class to another also reading //Fast Food Nation:// **"Blurring Boundaries: Two Groups of Girls Collaborate on a Wiki"** by: Trace Schillinger (Available online through Galileo and other library websites)
 * Are there more or less corporate influences in your school then in others - in the district? in the state? in the world?**
 * Description**: Schillinger connects her classroom with another teacher's in a vastly different part of town; the students in both classes read the same material and participate in relevant discussions online. The project culminates with both groups able to finally meet in person and learn each other's real names and connect them with their screen names. The students not only learn about the text they are reading, but also about how the differences in their cultures affect how they read and interpret the text.


 * Key Quotes from //The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks//**
 * From the Chapter Entitled "The Canned Beet Rebellion"**

"The Canned Beet Rebellion originated when Headmaster Richmond announced...that Sylvia Kargman...CEO of Viva (a large soft drink corporation)...was coming to speak schoolwide on the subject of 'Following Your Dreams: Essential Knowledge and Strategies for Success"...Ms. Kargman's company had 'sponsored' renovations of the [cafeteria]."

"This whole campus is striped with ads for Jeff's mom's company."

"Viva owns not only Jumbo Juice, bu Swell cheese products, NiceFood canned goods, and a company that makes preshaped frozen hamburgers. All things we use in the caf every day. We tried to get people riled up, but nothing happened. The building is air-conditioned now and has pretty skylights, but the caf food still sucks and the school is contracted to use all these processed foods for I don't remember how long."

"Ketchup is not a vegetable."

"Today you will unwittingly and possibly unwantingly participate in The Canned Beet Rebellion, under the auspices of the Society for Vegetable Awareness, Promotion, and Information Delegation, in which, to be quick about it, we demand a salad bar at both lunch and dinner in the caf."

"The following day Ms. Kargman, realizing in retrospect that she had been mocked and criticized, decided upon damage control rather than complaint..."