This School Brought to You by … - advertising in schools

Current Events, Oct 20, 2000

Background

Kids' spending habits may be motivating companies to advertise in public schools. According to some estimates, teenagers spend more than $90 billion a year. Teens also influence the way their parents spend their money.

The amount of money schools receive from corporations in return for advertising can range from a few thousand dollars to several million dollars. In Ohio, Coca-Cola offered the Toledo school district $4.5 million to become its exclusive seller during the next 10 years. Andrew Hagelshaw of the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education said companies enter into exclusive contracts with schools in order to build customer loyalty among students. "These machines are 8-foot-high neon billboards," Hagelshaw said. "While students are in school they're basically a captive audience."

Coca-Cola and Pepsi officials, however, say they are careful not to take their logos into the classroom. PepsiCo spokesman Dave DeCecco said, "We're not out to turn the schools into a Pepsi billboard. We never interfere with a school's general course of study. You won't see kids in math class counting Pepsi cans."

The GAO Report

Lawmakers, though, want to be certain parents have a say in what kinds of ads their kids are exposed to. The results of the 10-month-long GAO study showed that just 19 states have laws related to advertising in public schools. Of those 19, only California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Maine specifically limit certain types of advertising within their public school buildings.

After the results of the GAO study were released, Sen. Dodd and Rep. Miller sponsored The Student Privacy Protection Act. This legislation requires school districts to obtain parental permission before their children are involved in a commercial activity at school. "Schools ought to be places where kids learn, not for companies to earn," Dodd said.

KIDS IN ONE COLORADO school district ride school buses plastered with pictures of 7-Up cans. A school in Texas has a giant Dr. Pepper logo painted on its roof. Students in a Massachusetts school participate in a cereal company's taste tests and marketing surveys.

Schools across the country are opening their doors to advertising. In exchange, businesses are giving the schools financial support.

A recent study by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), a Congressional agency that checks the financial situation of federal programs, says that such commercialism in public schools is widespread and increasing. The GAO study also found that state policies governing ads in schools don't exist or are inadequate, leaving schools on their own in dealing with corporate marketing efforts.

Although the GAO did not express an official opinion on advertising in schools, the report stirred up a hornet's nest. Officials at financially strapped schools defended their ad deals to angry parents and politicians who said schools should be sanctuaries from commercialism.

A Helping Hand?

Supporters of advertising in public schools, such as Don Nielson, a Seattle school board member, point out that ads can provide schools with much-needed money. "If exposing a middle schooler to a corporate logo--or two or three or even ten--in a given day [enables] us to provide that child with an after-school athletic program, a drama program, or a music program ... I'm just not going to get upset," Nielson said.

Marc Bernd, an Arlington, Texas, school official, agrees. Bernd said, "This is a way to obtain funds without having to resort to public tax dollars."

Too Many Ads?

Some people, however, think that kids are already exposed to too many ads in other places. They say public schools should be ad-free zones. Brita Butler-Wall, a Seattle parent, worries that ads may interfere with the education process. "Advertising is there to sell products. And I just don't see that [advertising] has anything to do with teaching kids," Butler-Wall said.

Senator Christopher Dodd, (D-Conn.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) recently proposed a bill in Congress that would limit business involvement in public schools. Dodd said, "The three R's shouldn't be retail, resale, and rebate." Miller concurs. "Learning must be a priority over commerce."

Have corporate advertisements in public schools gone too far? Why or why not?