What Values Are We Promoting?

Nicholas Johnson

Iowa City Press-Citizen, "Opinion," December 21, 1999, p. 11A


Jesus, a Jew at the time, is oft quoted in the New Testament.

Matthew 6:19 reports his admonition, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.”

Isn’t it a mite ironic that those who celebrate his life this season choose to do so by laying up treasures upon earth? In fact 25 percent of the treasures sold throughout an entire year in many a mall are sold in His name during December.

Of course, my version of the Bible is a little old. Perhaps newer editions note the availability of WD-40, mothballs, and burglar alarms.

If commercialism has even infested religious holidays, what about schools?

Once you find out you may share school board member Dale Shultz’ surprise recently when he asked, “What’s a Paul Revere Pizza sign doing in a high school cafeteria?”

Turns out our district’s commercialization policies don’t prevent it.

Should they?

Some education issues, like curriculum, require deference to professionals. Levels of commercialism, by contrast, can appropriately reflect community values. What are ours?

Some believe schools should be a commercial-free oasis for children. Others say the more money schools get from advertising the better.

What if a company offers our school district a lot of money? Does that make it better – or worse? Remember George Bernard Shaw’s line: “We’ve already determined what you are. Now we’re just haggling over price”?

School districts are of many minds. Some have advertisements in school buses, hallways and classrooms. Commercials over PA systems at athletic events. “Gifts” of scoreboards. Channel One and ZapMe’s commercials. In-school market research. Exclusive contracts for soft drinks. (One school expelled a student for wearing a “Pepsi” shirt on “Coke appreciation day.”) Consumption is encouraged by administrators to increase school revenue.

Blatant corporate logos in schools are equivalent to commercials on TV. Sponsored educational materials (“SEMs”) are schools’ equivalent of TV’s “product placement.” (Paying TV producers to display products in shows.)

Exxon offers teachers a lesson plan and video that praises the company’s clean up of Prince William Sound. It fails to mention what caused that Alaska oil spill.

Not surprisingly, Consumer Reports’ “Captive Kids: A Report on Commercial Pressures on Kids at School” reveals 80 percent of SEMs contain biased information favoring the corporate provider.

How do companies benefit from in-school commercialism?

As advertiser Clyde Miller puts it: “Think of what it can mean to your firm in profits if you can condition a million or ten million children who will grow up into adults trained to buy your product as soldiers are trained to advance when they hear the trigger words ‘forward march.’”

If the product costs pennies to make, sells for $1.75, and is addictive – like Marlboro cigarettes – the shortened lifetime’s profits can be enormous.

When obesity is an epidemic killing 300,000 a year, and junior high students are already afflicted with arteriolosclerosis, why do we permit sugared water and pizza in our schools at all – with or without advertising?

Of course, there’s also much unselfish support of schools by our local businesses. Commercialism in schools raises many complicated issues. We’ll sort through more of them two weeks from now.

Meanwhile, as Jean Kilbourne, author of Deadly Persuasion, puts it, “The primary value (taught by) advertising is that ‘things bring us happiness.’” As I put it, “You will be known by the companies you keep.”

Do kids value “things”? You bet. But is it an otherwise-neglected value our schools must re-enforce?

As followers of the world’s religions pause for the season of laying up treasures, Jolly Old St. Nicholas wishes you and yours a very happy holly-daze.

Nicholas Johnson is a member of the Iowa City School Board.