Advertising in Schools: How Bad Is It?

Having been referred to an article in USA Today about advertising in schools, our initial instinct was the same as Nancy Cox, the quoted president of the Florida PTA, who said, “We are opposed to using children for commercial purposes.” That was the self-inflicted antibodies against indoctrination talking, though, and we quickly shook them off. (And not just because the fruits of child labor are as sweet as child-labor-produced sugar.)

Schools are broke. Teachers work a thankless job, positioned to fail right from the get-go. If schools can make an extra $5k a year by putting advertisements on the busses, then more power to them. (And we hardly think a few more ads are going to make a dent in the kids’ mental landscape, at this point.)

(As an aside, we are against putting fast food into schools, although we are also against most of the food that is served by cafeterias, so we’re sort of break-even on that one.)

But we know that there has to be some really awful bits of advertising crammed down our school-goers’ throats, and we’d like to know about them. A comment or email is fine, but pictures are even better.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.