SCHOOLS AND BUSINESS

Traditionally there have been more links between business and education in the US than in any European country, but commercialism in schools has recently skyrocketed and has inflamed public debate. In France this topic is quite new and still marginal (for example Danone provides nutrition guides in elementary schools) but in the US the controversy arose at the end of the 80s.

How could we define the links that exist between the world of education and the world of big companies? Why are big companies so interested in entering school system? We will see that even if some useful and efficient partnerships exist between school and companies, this may also lead to worrying drifts.

I-Partnerships between schools and companies

Helping the financing of Education in the US

Education in the United States is highly decentralized with funding and curriculum decisions taking place mostly at the local level through school boards. Those school boards are directly elected by the population. The federal government of the United States through the U.S. Department of Education is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding.

But sometimes, especially in poor neighborhoods and in rural disctricts, budgets just covers the bare necessities. There is a lack of funding or simply a lack of qualified staff, so that schools can’t provide special activities like field trips or workshops. That’s why at state or distrcit level you have a Council that is in charge of creating partnerships between schools and firms. For exemple, in Texas, you have the Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) that was formed by business leaders in 1989 in order to improve the performance of the Texas public school system.

The purpose of school-business partnerships

There are two kinds of partnerships: the most basic form is when a company provides funds and equipment for the school while the school gives public credit to the business.

There are also long-term partnerships to help enrich school programs, such as sending professional business people to teach mini-courses. Those partnerships are frequently concerned with developing enriching career education programs. Provided activities include work-based learning, and internship experiences to help prepare students to join the workforce.

These partnerships obtained good results: In Virginia, a partnership was set up to solve the math teacher shortage. In this partnership, business provided engineers to schools to teach math classes. This kind of partnership can be found also at university, where companies can sponsor brilliant poor students by paying their tuition fees or offering them loans. This system is beneficial for students but above all for companies, especially in poor areas where it is difficult to find qualified and motivated employees.

II-The drifts of the system : the intrusion of advertising in schools

Facts and figures

Companies may think it is normal that they put advertisements in schools as they provide free teaching material or even funds. The main reason is that many companies consider children as an interesting three-in-one market:

* first, as buyers themselves. Thus, each year, elementary school children have about $15 billion of their own money, of which they spend an estimated $11 billion on such products as toys, clothes, candy, and snacks

* second, as influencers of their parents' purchases : children influence at least $160 billion in parental purchases each year,

* and third, as future adult consumers

This has become a real society problem in the US, which is denounced in the famous cartoons: The Simpsons and Daria.

In a 1998 Simpsons’ episode called “Lisa gets an A”, Lisa cheated at the exam and got an A+++, so that her school will obtain federal grant money. Lisa is ashamed of what she did but the head, Mr.Skinner urges her not to tell the truth because the school really needs money.

Actually Lisa’s school is so poor that teachers have to use the “Oscar Mayer (which is a real brand name, it’s a food company) promotional periodic table of chemistry elements”. (Ms Krappabel asks who can tell me the atomic weight of the bolognium? And a pupil answers ‘delicious”)

In Daria Episode called “Fizz Ed” (Jackpot in French), Daria’s high school faces a budget crisis due to voters having turned down a tax increase for a 3rd consecutive year. Trips to planetarium are cancelled, maps are outdated, football team can’t buy new equipment. Ms. Li the school head turns for help to a marketer for the soft drinks companies. It means that those companies will bid on an exclusivity agreement, and in exchange for some product placement and a few ads, the school will get $50000. Ultra Cola is the winner of the bid, and its machines show up everywhere in the school.

In-school advertising controversy

The controversy arose in 1989 with the Channel One Communications campaign. This TV channel decided to offer a 12-minute daily news show for pupils, which included two minutes of age-appropriate ads for products like jeans and soft drinks. In exchange for airing the program each day at the same time for three years, Channel One Communications gave schools high quality TV equipment. Most of the schools that accepted this agreement were of course located in areas of high poverty. This is a perfect way to direct propaganda on children, because surveys show that the younger a consumer familiarizes himself with a company and its values, the stronger will be his commitment to the brand.

In the US nowadays parents associations were created to fight against sponsored pedagogical equipment, fearing that market values may take the place of democratic values in the schools. Their opponents argue that commercialism is highly prevalent throughout the US society and a bit more advertising in the schools should not really affect students.

To conclude, advertising in the schools can be seen as part of a historical pattern toward the commercialization of youth. In the 1980s, children got their own TV networks, radio networks, magazines, newspapers, kids' clothing brands, books, banking, and even high-tech products such as video games. All this has awoken the interest of businesses. The solutions would be to launch policies that will oblige businesses to consider schools as "ad-free zones” and pursue non-commercial partnerships. Another thing would be to begin the teaching of media literacy in elementary schools, in order to help educate children to be critical readers of advertising and to become aware consumers.

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