Distinguished Judges, Ladies and Gentlemen, Teachers and students.

Allow me to take you on a journey, not to grand or extravagant, merely from my

house to school. Driving along, on the left, there is a billboard advertising the latest pair
of Nike shoes, on the right, an I am Canadian beer ad. Up ahead, all I can see is the
looming, comfortingly familiar image of the fair Golden Arches, beckoning to me with
promises of McDeals, McFries, and ----but WAIT. i was on my way to school
During my morning commute, I see upwards of 10 billboards and a multitude of
business advertising striving to capture my attention. Hundreds of things are trying to be
sold to me, and special brand names are instantly superimposed over certain images in
my mind see an ocean multitude of advertisings. Its getting to a point where I am even
contemplating buying products and services that Im quite sure I dont need, like a good
leg-waxingBut as I arrive to school, I expect to enter a haven safe from the corporate
world, a distinctly separate locale and mindset in which free thought is encouraged and
diversity promoted. Sadly, this is not the case. As I enter the lower entrance I am
greeted with the warm, soft glow of the Coca Cola machine. Next, as I wander towards
the main hall, I am faced with a large ad for Grad Rings.a poster screams BUY
GRAD RINGS! Then it strikes me, we, the students, are being sold out. Our eyes and
brains are one a five-year lease to the highest bidder.
Now allow me digress, fundamentally, advertising is something an essential
element of our present capitalist economywe have to live with. Advertising It is a
business just like any other and is useful in its proper location. It has grown into an
essential element of our present capitalist economy. Recently though, advertising has
skyrocketed everywhere. On the internet, we are inundated with wave after wave of
useless junk mail and banner ads. Logically, it shouldnt make much more of a
difference to have a bit more advertising in schools, right?
Wrong. Schools are meant to be a setting for learning and a platform for
discussion, an open environment which is optimized for free thought. How can we

perform our tasks if a pop machine is constantly lurking buzzing in the corner? How
can we develop well rounded tastes if we are being pressured into looking at ads that
dictate choice? Take for example, our humble French class. Usually, we labour over
grammar or read famous poems, but more often than before, we are given work books to
fill in. These work books are clearly not supplied by the Ministry of Education but by a
private company. The subjects that are investigated include the Hot Movies of 2004, or
Fashion, which brand of clothes do you wear? Believe it or not, the articles are not
even as subtle as I am making them out to be. Basically, it is just one long colourful
advertisement for the spring movies and fashion. This is unacceptable. This is not
normal advertising where we can switch the channel, or look away. This is something
that we are being marked on, something that we as students HAVE to do, as students.
We are THE perfect target audience for this type of advertising:, we are young, have a
100% disposable income, and we influence a large portion of our parents spending.
Above all, we are a captive audience, viewing only the ads that can get inads that pay
enough to get into our classes, making it a perfect opportunity for heavy brand
buildingpromotion.
Some might say that a little advertising couldnt hurt anyone, but I disagree. I
look at the US and see something called Channel 1, a 12 minute long morning
television program broadcast to every single high school class in the country, and of
course, sponsored by a big corporation,. whichThis program serves no other real purpose
other than to be a vehicle for ripe with advertisementsing. Already in Canada, intrusions
like this have already been spotted in Eastern provinces like Ontario.
This is a reality people, its happening very close to us. I fear that even the
slightest amount of advertising in our schools could open a veritable Pandoras box and
threaten the public school system as well know it. Students are being forced to view ads
that could interfere with the learning process. This effectively eliminates our ability to
make balanced decisions, Contrary to everything we are taught in school on a daily
basis. Education is being sacrificed for the dream of big cash payoffs. My conclusion
therefore that the selling of access to an audience held virtually captive in a classroom

for commercial purposes is exploitation and a violation of the public trust. What is the
price of our souls?.....*CALCULATOR* Hmmm about $25,000thats about right
It will open a veritable pandoras box
Selling or providing access an audience held virtually captive in a classroom for
commercial purposes is exploitation and a violation of the public trust. NO CHOICE!
However, compulsory attendance confers on educators an obligation to protect the
welfare of their students and the integrity of the learning environment.
Revenues acquired through sponsorship should be used to complement and not replace
public funding for education.
Examples:
That booklet in French class
Free canucks pass
Contests
Fundraising buying things from only one store

think critically and independently = ads are one sided

it's rewarding them with something they don't really need...but the very fact that there's a reward is what gets them
magazines contain ads for products that are unrelated to magazines and schoolwork, books don't
it makes kids into consumers even before they have a disposable income
(2) ads are classically associated with non-school...so you can't maintain an exclusively educational mindset very well
if you have ads everywhere
so morally the major point is that your right to choice is violated because

(1) you're only exposed to one point of view and not its competing POVs...thus your very chance for having the
opportunity to make an independent choice is limited if not removed
(2) you pretty much HAVE to look at the ads, you can't choose to turn them off/change the channel...so you can't
choose what you look at
(3) you're by association compelled to (representatively at least) agree with everything the school "supports" by OKing
certain ads over others (see schoolbus example)
Also the purpose/nature of education is undermined:
(1) you are in school to learn to think for yourself and allowing ads in school is clearly antithetical to this purpose
(2)
(1) free labout force if students have to sell subscriptions/cookies
(2) in public school there shouldn't be any private opinion endorsed...so when private bodies like companies can
exclusively represent themselves in schools unquestionedly that infringes on the right to an unbiased public education
(3) legal guardians can't monitor kids' exposure to ______, so though they're primary caregivers who are responsible
for and paying for the kids they have less influence/control over their development
(4) taxpayers have no say in what ads are put in schools and taxpayers fund public schools so their money is maybe
being spent in a school that endoreses something they don't personally believe in (such as the very fact itself that
advertising is used in schools)
(5) schools are manipulating students to see thing in a certain way (see moral point 1)
the main question is...is financial gain that possibly does improve the quality of education enough to justify using
children, who are in school to study not think about what jeans to buy, as a choiceless audience for product
endorsement]? and who should be blamed for the necessity of this?

pijem ti dah says:

advertising in schools is hypocritical cos schools are supposed to each you to think critically and independently
.:. pijem ti dah says:
ads are one-sided
.:. pijem ti dah says:
they don't promote critical thought
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

right
.:. pijem ti dah says:
plus if it's public school it's technically representative of the entire population and shouldn't take sides with cirporate
representatives
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

i thik its just fundamentally wrong to pay for public necessity so essential as schools
with ads
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

right
.:. pijem ti dah says:
fundamentally as in morally?
.:. pijem ti dah says:
or legally?
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

both
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

cause then there is a flaw wiht the tax system

.:. pijem ti dah says:
yeah that's true

.:. pijem ti dah says:

hmm let's work on one argument at a time
.:. pijem ti dah says:
moral:
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

kk
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

its against he idea of a free education

.:. pijem ti dah says:

parent and not school are responsible for what kids are exposed to so they should have the right to choose what their
kids see/don't see and they can't censor ads that are at school as they have no say in what deals school makes
.:. pijem ti dah says:
so it undermines parental status
.:. pijem ti dah says:
and involvement
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

right parents
.:. pijem ti dah says:
it makes kids into consumers even before they have a disposable income
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

but they can influence parental decisions

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed389473.html
.:. pijem ti dah says:
exactly...so it ties in with point one
.:. pijem ti dah says:
you're a digest!
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

right
.:. pijem ti dah says:
what besides candy and toys and snacks would kids buy anyway...............
.:. pijem ti dah says:
commercialization of youth........that's the biggest thing
.:. pijem ti dah says:
it's different now cos so very much has changed in the past 100 years so very quickly comapred to the rest of history
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

yeah btu i won't go to teh past

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

cause its all whack back there

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

there wasn't even advertising

.:. pijem ti dah says:
hah
.:. pijem ti dah says:
not as direct
.:. pijem ti dah says:

"...gives schools a satellite dish, a cable hookup, a television monitor for each classroom, and an agreement to
service the equipment for three years..."
.:. pijem ti dah says:
why do schools need cable/satellite?
.:. pijem ti dah says:
i don't remember ever having watched a TV show in school
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

oh that is hilarious
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

that idea
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

its just pure advertising

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

its amazing that they allow that

.:. pijem ti dah says:
it's rewarding them with something they don't really need...but the very fact that there's a reward is what gets them
.:. pijem ti dah says:
"lesson plans"!!!!
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

yeah
.:. pijem ti dah says:
how on earth can that happen?!!!
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

ohh i gotta show you this mad magazine

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

where A vodka company sponsors a chem lab text

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

about getting inebriate

-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

d
.:. pijem ti dah says:
ha
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

it was graet
-

Xerox has made millions by copying off other people, why can't I? says:

it did it all professional and stuff

.:. pijem ti dah says:

WHOA! i remember something. in grade 7 we had this company come talk to us about something about how factories
work...and they explained assembly lines to us by having us put together these pens...and the pens had their
company logo on them and we got to keep them
.:. pijem ti dah says:
that was pretty subtle of them
:. pijem ti dah says:
magazines contain ads for products that are unrelated to magazines and schoolwork, books don't
.:. pijem ti dah says:
i will
.:. pijem ti dah says:
educational facilities are selling out their purpose and thus integrity seems to be the main theme
.:. pijem ti dah says:
it doesn't make school distinct and separate from the outside world, so it kinda maybe undermines its own status as a
separate, serious place intended for learning
.:. pijem ti dah says:
schools 'betray' students by using the fact that they're powerless in the issue of what ads appear in schools
.:. pijem ti dah says:
what about selling magazine subscriptions for band and stuff? they force students to be walking
ads/salespeople...and they don't even pay them, even though there are people who do the same job but get money
for it
.:. pijem ti dah says:
so they get an influenceable target audience for their producats that also doubles as a free labour force!
.:. pijem ti dah says:
hmmm say you're a vegetarian/vegan for moral reasons...and you take a schoolbus that has an ad for a hot dog
brand or something on the side...then your're not really able to stand up for what you believe in and are forced to do
go along with something you're opposed to (of course this example is kinda trivial but it can be analogous to more
serious situations)
.:. pijem ti dah says:
so morally the major point is that your right to choice is violated because
(1) you're only exposed to one point of view and not its competing POVs...thus your very chance for having the
opportunity to make an independent choice is limited if not removed
(2) you pretty much HAVE to look at the ads, you can't choose to turn them off/change the channel...so you can't
choose what you look at

(3) you're by association compelled to (representatively at least) agree with everything the school "supports" by OKing
certain ads over others (see schoolbus example)
Also the purpose/nature of education is undermined:
(1) you are in school to learn to think for yourself and allowing ads in school is clearly antithetical to this purpose
(2)
.:. pijem ti dah says:
(2) ads are classically associated with non-school...so you can't maintain an exclusively educational mindset very well
if you have ads everywhere
.:. pijem ti dah says:
hmmmm now legally!
.:. pijem ti dah says:
(1) free labout force if students have to sell subscriptions/cookies
(2) in public school there shouldn't be any private opinion endorsed...so when private bodies like companies can
exclusively represent themselves in schools unquestionedly that infringes on the right to an unbiased public education
(3) legal guardians can't monitor kids' exposure to ______, so though they're primary caregivers who are responsible
for and paying for the kids they have less influence/control over their development
(4) taxpayers have no say in what ads are put in schools and taxpayers fund public schools so their money is maybe
being spent in a school that endoreses something they don't personally believe in (such as the very fact itself that
advertising is used in schools)
(5) schools are manipulating students to see thing in a certain way (see moral point 1)
.:. pijem ti dah says:
i dunno if i can think of any more without discussion
.:. pijem ti dah says:
the main question is...is financial gain that possibly does improve the quality of education enough to justify using
children, who are in school to study not think about what jeans to buy, as a choiceless audience for product
endorsement]? and who should be blamed for the necessity of this?
.:. pijem ti dah says:
heh my mind's dried up now...