Chris R. Giroux, Henry. Kids for Sale: Corporate Culture and the Challenge of Public Schooling. pgs. 171-175

Chris Refsdal
9/28/07
WGS 220-05

Description:

• The amount of corporate advertising in many public schools undermines the democratic values that our education system seeks to instill in children. (pg. 171-175)
  

Analysis:

• Instead of learning civic courage, corporate advertising transforms genuine knowledge into recognizing brand names and learning attitudes for low-skilled and low-paying occupation (pg. 173)
• Many educators justify the intrusion of corporations by claiming that it truly empowers children to learn, allowing the practice to persist. (pg. 173)
• Corporate advertising can in some cases suppress freedom of choice and opinion, as with the students who were punished by wearing Pepsi logos to a Coke-sponsored event. (pg. 174)
  

Vision:

• Schools should not need to rely on corporations for funding, and should uphold the need to teach the values of a democracy of citizens and not those of a democracy of consumers. (pg. 174)
  

Strategy:

• Implied. Schools must first recognize that corporate advertising does have a detrimental effect on students and that it intrudes upon the values that educators attempt to teach. Schools should look for alternate methods of funding, or at least teach students not to be swayed by corporate advertising.