The debate on corporate intrusion in public schools is nothing new. Itsa国际传媒 been going on for decades, since pop manufacturers first started sponsoring scoreclocks.
Itsa国际传媒 popped up again in the Vancouver area, as the school board there turned down Chevronsa国际传媒 Fuel Your School program, which donates money from drivers to purchase school equipment.
Chevron offered $1 per fill-up of 30 litres or more toward educational programs. On the surface, that might be considered blatant commercialization of our young people.
鈥淲e need to keep corporate influence away from classrooms,鈥 said Vancouver school board chair Patti Bacchus, who believes the responsibility for education funding belongs with the provincial government.
Should sponsorship catch on, where would it end? Schools, hospitals, highways?
But if the corporate world wants to get involved, why hold them back? Corporations have donated scholarship and bursary money for decades. Expecting a tasteful plug in return is not unreasonable.
If moneysa国际传媒 tight, why vote down something that can effectively benefit children?
In case critics of corporate sponsorship haven鈥檛 noticed, advertising is nearly everywhere in a childsa国际传媒 world, from the Internet to designer clothes and shoes to those ever so skillfully placed products in animated films by Disney and others.
Bacchus is refreshing in that shesa国际传媒 a rare school board trustee who speaks out on controversial issues and is not afraid to offend anyone.
Itsa国际传媒 just, this time, she needs to reconsider her position.
鈥 Penticton editor James Miller
