October 10th, 2008 by Robin Green

Every election year, a large portion of the nation’s people remain uneducated about the issues and where politicians stand on those issues. Some people simply don’t care about politics. But for the rest, it’s often difficult to find reliable political learning content.

During election time, what’s a good source of learning content about politicians and their platforms? On TV, increasingly as the election draws near, channels swarm with political ads providing information about candidates. But like all advertisements, the information provided is often misleading or even false. Smear campaigns highlight mistakes politicians have made in the past or blow minor events out of proportion. They often use fear tactics to convince the public that something terrible will happen if the other candidate is elected.

Rather than tune in to the television for political learning content, trusted newspapers might be a better alternative.

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October 10th, 2008 by Robin Green

Picture it: you’re a student on your first day of a history course. Printed on the syllabus is an advertisement for a local Mexican restaurant, El Diablo. An El Diablo sticker is also clipped to the syllabus, which reads “The Americas: Conquest to Capitalism.” This class is sponsored by El Diablo, your professor says. Before presenting learning content, he flashes the restaurant logo on the overhead projector.

Sound crazy? Kyle Volk, assistant professor of history at the University of Montana, came up with “a witty way to draw attention to the plight of this history department” until the university stopped it. Last June, the department ran out of paper and toner for the copying machine, forcing professors to finish the semester without printing learning content or making copies. With the rising cost of school supplies and learning content material, it’s no great wonder many schools resort to advertising deals.

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October 10th, 2008 by Robin Green

Come to find out, my alma mater was just one of 8,000 schools nationwide who signed a contract with Channel One, which in return for airing its commercial-ridden news program each day, loans TVs, VCRs and satellite dishes to schools. The contract requires that the program be shown to students on 90% of regular school days at an audible volume. Teachers are to ensure students watch the complete program.

A 2006 American Academy of Pediatrics study showed that children who watch Channel One remembered the commercials more than the learning content. The Media Education Foundation notes too that very little time is dedicated to actual learning content and most of the program is sensationalist “fluff” with corporate marketing and PR tie-ins to promote products. So not only are students being forced to absorb consumerist messages, but they’re also not gaining learning content of real value.

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October 10th, 2008 by Robin Green

When I was in high school, we didn’t have TVs in every classroom. I remember our history teacher wheeling a TV in from next door to show us films with historical learning content. Which is why I was surprised, upon visiting my high school a few months ago, to find little TVs installed in every room. I wondered how this small, increasingly financially-strapped Catholic school had raised enough cash to pay its staff’s salaries and learning content material, much less all these TVs.

But when the TVs suddenly turned on and began broadcasting a news program for teens, I started to get the picture. Besides the intrusion of advertising in the form of posters, pamphlets, book covers, BusRadio and the sides of actual buses, vending machines, films, and scoreboards, a striking form of in-school advertising takes place: Channel One news.

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October 10th, 2008 by Robin Green

We’ve seen school buses festooned with colorful advertising. But what about inside the buses, and in actual schools?

There is a host of ways in which children’s school environments and learning content are being commercialized. Many buses play BusRadio, which boasts of taking “targeted student marketing to the next level” and providing companies with a “captive audience.” Marketer-sponsored school activities range from literacy programs and anti-drug campaigns, to communication skills training. In these students are rewarded with product coupons for their performance and engagement with learning content.

Companies like Cover Concepts–whose executives also created BusRadio–provide schools with free book covers that advertise Kellogg’s, Calvin Klein, Nike, McDonald’s and other major marketers. Even students’ learning content material is blanketed with advertising.

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October 9th, 2008 by Robin Green

For many budget-crunched school districts, raising funds for everything from learning content materials to entire departments is increasingly difficult. Many consider using advertising on school buses and other locations throughout the school to compensate for their lack of funds. Athletic departments have traditionally accepted sponsorship. But where do we draw the line? Is it OK for schools to sell other advertising spaces?

Many people are outraged by the advertising industry’s finding its way into schools. School advertising not only distracts children from learning content, but it’s a mandatory barrage due to compulsory education laws. At home, kids can turn off the TV or choose not to listen to the radio. But at school they are compelled to view ads–often with unhealthy learning content–like those for big beverage companies or fast food restaurants.

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October 9th, 2008 by Robin Green

What can we do to offset the learning content children are being exposed to through TV advertising? The bombardment is truly overwhelming. Parents alone can’t tackle the problem. But they can help. Sit down with your kids and talk to them about what they’re seeing on TV and the internet. (This goes not only for the learning content contained in ads, but what they’re viewing in general.) Talk to your child about ads, their different forms, and their subtle messages and goals. Create a healthy awareness.

But parents can’t go it alone. Support from schools, social programs, and laws to regulate corporate advertising to children is essential.

Of course, children should be encouraged to cut down on their media consumption, to be more active, read more books. Cutting down not only means avoiding manipulative commercial learning content, but developing active and strong bodies and minds.

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October 9th, 2008 by Robin Green

Is it possible for young viewers to simply tune out advertising learning content if they’re not interested? It’s difficult. The problem is that so much money is wrapped up in the industry–the whole corporate world depends on its effectiveness. No one can afford not to go to all lengths to sell their products, even if it means the learning content projected in their ads creates myths that damage children’s mental and physical well-being.

As children absorb learning content through the media, they are being targeted by billions of dollars worth of sophisticated corporate marketing. The Federal Trade Commission, conducting an inquiry into increasing childhood obesity, found that food companies had spent $1.6 billion to market their products to children and teens in 2006. McDonald’s alone spends about $600 million a year on advertising. It’s an eerie thought: the world’s most extravagantly-paid psychologists are employed by advertising agencies.

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