NEWS RELEASE
For More Information Contact: Robert Weissman and Elizabeth Ben-Ishai (503) 235-8012
For Immediate Release: December 7th, 2011

Don't Allow Commercial Advertising in Schools, Commercial Alert Urges Flagler County Schools

Today, Commercial Alert sent a letter to the Flagler County School Board Chair Person, Sue Dickinson, urging the Board not to move forward with plans to allow commercial advertising on school properties. Commercial Alert is a project of Public Citizen, a consumer protection organization based in Washington, D.C., with more than 225,000 members and supporters.

The text of the letter follows:

December 7th, 2011
Sue Dickinson, Chair Person
School Board
Flagler County Public Schools
1769 East Moody Blvd., Bldg. #2
Bunnell, FL 32110

Dear Ms. Dickinson,

Commercial Alert is a project of Public Citizen, a consumer protection organization based in Washington, D.C., with more than 225,000 members and supporters. We aim to keep commercial culture within its proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and democracy.

We understand that the Flagler County Public Schools School Board has recently changed its policy to allow a significant increase in commercial advertising on school properties and websites. As well, the board is currently considering hiring a consulting firm to assist in the sale of advertising space. We write to urge the Board not to move forward with these plans. We understand that the financial pressures your school district currently faces make you eager to identify non-traditional sources of funding. We know your primary concern is to avoid shortchanging students as a result of budget cuts. However, subjecting children to even greater amounts of advertising is the wrong response. It will raise little revenue while undermining the Flagler County Public Schools’ educational and child development mission. Educational institutions should promote civic virtue and the public good, not commercial values.

As you know, childhood and adolescence are crucial periods for young pupils to develop their identities. Corporations exploit these developmental challenges, and convey through sophisticated marketing strategies that children should build their identities and judge their peers based on what they have, rather than on who they are. In the process, children end up with a damaged sense of self, superficial worldview, and a diminished sense of social responsibility. There is no need to overstate the case; certainly, many children navigate the world of hyper-marketing successfully. But it is nonetheless a negative influence – one that schools, of all places, should not be promoting. Children are already surrounded by near-constant advertising that promotes consumerism and commercial values. But the ubiquity of advertising is not a reason for allowing school advertising to persist – it is a reason why children need a sanctuary from a world where everything seems to be for sale.

Some advocates of school advertising believe that setting appropriate guidelines for these practices can curb potential harms. But more often than not, these guidelines offer virtually no protection to students. Flagler’s recently revised guidelines restrict advertising that promotes alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs or other products and services that are harmful to minors. While these are certainly important restrictions, they do not offer sufficient guidance to weed out the wide range of potentially harmful items advertisers may pitch to children. Corporations that sell harmful products to children will be among those most interested in targeting them by pursuing advertising opportunities. In school districts across the country that permit advertising, district guidelines have not prevented companies selling fast food, soda, and other unhealthful products from purchasing advertisements that target students.

But it is not only the presence of corporations selling unhealthy or morally questionable products in schools that raises concerns. Corporate advertisers advance values inconsonant with those schools stand for. Education should empower students to think critically and independently. Students should be encouraged to form their own beliefs, to question established ideas, and to develop intellectual curiosity. Marketing and advertising contravene these goals. Commercialism teaches students that everything has a price. In-school advertising and marketing schemes convey market rather than civic values and impede the ability of schools to function as open spaces where ideas are freely exchanged and the next generation of public-minded, conscientious, and virtuous students can grow.

Weighted against the real harms of school commercialism, the financial benefits of such a scheme are minuscule. The Dayton News-Journal reports that the district hopes to make up for $3.5 million in budget cuts this year, which have led to shortened school days and the elimination of 42 teaching positions. We recognize the devastating effects of such cuts. However, in districts across the country that have embarked on advertising programs, revenues typically amount to a tiny fraction of these cuts. Moreover, private consulting firms like those you are currently seeking typically take anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of advertising revenues.

We urge you to reconsider your decision to allow increased advertising on Flagler’s school properties and to hire a consulting firm to assist with this process. We look forward to your response, and would be pleased to discuss these matters with you further.

Sincerely,

Robert Weissman
President
Public Citizen

Elizabeth Ben-Ishai
Campaign Coordinator
Public Citizen’s Commercial Alert