Corporate sponsorship in schools can harm students, experts say

11-08-2011

By Joanna Lin/California Watch

For schools facing shrinking budgets, a branded scoreboard on the football field or advertisement on a school bus can bring some much-needed cash. But such corporate sponsorships also could undermine students' critical thinking skills, education policy experts warn. While commercialism in schools can directly harm students – marketing sodas and candy undermines nutrition curriculums, for instance – it also might discourage students from thinking critically about the brands, messages or topics sponsored in their schools, according to a report released yesterday by the National Education Policy Center. "It's a whole panoply of marketing methods now available to schools, and it's becoming more and more (prevalent)," said Alex Molnar, lead author of the report and a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. "The goal of it is to become more integrated into the pattern of everyday school life, so it's hard to tell where the advertising begins and ends. … These businesses are there for the kids? No, they're not. They're there for themselves; they're there to make money." (more...)

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Corporate sponsorship in schools can harm students, experts say

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