Ads on school buses: Good idea for cash-strapped schools?

[frankvdv]

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Ads on school buses: Good idea for cash-strapped schools?
School boards are trying to avoid layoffs by finding creative ways to raise money. But should they really be bombarding kids with ads?
posted on August 2, 2011, at 12:56 PM

Best Opinion:  Babble, OC Register, Minyanville

School districts across the country are facing widening budget deficits, and some are adopting an unusual strategy to raise extra money: Selling advertising space on school buses. Critics say this is a bad idea, because kids are particularly susceptible to ads, particularly those touting junk food. But administrators say they're careful to weed out inappropriate pitches, and that the hundreds of thousands of dollars these ads bring in are a critical new source of revenue. Are the schools just being practical, or are they exploiting children?

If this keeps schools running, great: "I'm all for creative fundraising," says Meredith Carroll at Babble, "particularly if it means that teachers can keep their jobs and kids can keep their activities." Yes, school districts will need to "draw strict guidelines about who can and can't advertise." But better to cover buses in ads than fire dozens of teachers.
"Is school bus advertising the next big thing, or the next bad thing?"

But it sends such a bad message to kids: On paper, this sounds like a "win, win, win" proposition, says Jill L. Reed at the Orange County Register. Some districts will use the money from selling ads on buses to avoid teacher layoffs, while others will use it to pay for putting seatbelts on old buses. But the downside is what might be in the ads. How can we expect kids to listen when we tell them to eat healthy foods when we send them to school "in a bus featuring an ad for cheap pizza"?
"Can school-bus ads drive revenue for districts?"

It's too late to keep ads out of schools: "Ads in schools are nothing new," says Donn Perez Fresard at Minyanville. Kids watch commercials for acne wash on Channel One News, which is broadcast into classrooms. Some districts plaster lockers with ads. And everyone from the coal industry to egg farmers have tried to get plugs for their products into textbooks. Like it or not, buses pushing Subway's $5 footlong are "the future of public school financing."
"State funding slashed, schools slap fast food ads on buses"

[rbain]

Gee, I don't see why there are ANY flat surfaces not being used to sell us something!

[OakParkSpartan]

I wonder if any of that really works.  I just think there is sensory overload with so much advertising.

[NYWREB]

As a parent, I think this is a HORRIBLE idea. There are several parent movements against the commercializing of our kids.  Scholastic just pulled back plans for the number of corporate sponsored teacher materials in the classroom because of a parent revolt.  I understand the need to draw revenue or cut expenses, but submitting our CHILDREN to advertising in the schools (or on the way to schools) is not the way to do it. 

Here's a link to the scholastic issue.

http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/scholasticvictory.html

[Puttintange]

Students, today's lesson is being brought to you by..... McDonald's 

[renovatorbear]

Hardly a new idea. For ten years I worked at a marketing & media company that placed ads and logos in school on book covers, mouse pads, bulletin boards, equipment of all kinds and on and on and on... We worked K-12 as well as every college setting. I hated it.

[jfrickind]

I've thought about running ads on my worksheets that I've produced.  Make a buck or two for the science department.  "kids, budgets are tight.  So in order to run this lab, I want to talk to you about pepto-bismol...". Or maybe some product placement in the labs, "today is the density of coca-cola product labs".