Natalie H. Giroux. Kids for Sale. 171-175.

Natalie Hage
Friday September 27, 2007
Gender & Popular Culture WGS 220 05
Giroux. Kids for Sale. 171-175.

Description:

• Corporate culture manifests itself within the intricate corners of schools d playgrounds, where children are blind to the commercialization that is growing around them.

• By making their way into schools, companies gain the power to influence parental spending.

• Aside from the profit gained from commercialization, these companies target schools as a sort of 'training ground'. They aim to educate students and, in turn, transform them into consumers.

• Schools are often accepting of corporate-sponsored curricula, yet other schools are unaware of just how much corporate culture goes unsighted in day to day school life. There are even schools that promote commercialization in the hallways and buses and even on book covers

Vision:

• Corporate culture must stop punishing any student who challenges the commercial approach to learning (174)

• Schools should not be used as advertising billboards for corporate interests (174).

• Commercialism needs to be decelerated when it comes to schools.

Strategy:

• Children need to gain an individual right to dissent, to freely express their opinions and ideas, and to challenge authority (174).

• There must be a development of non-market values in schools. Ideals such as love, trust and compassion should be what is presented to children rather than vocabulary that revolves around corporate culture (174).