Groups Question Education Nominee's Record on School Commercialism

[Gary Ruskin]

Commercial Alert					January 9, 2001

Commercial Alert and child advocates sent letters today to Members of
the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions,
expressing concern that Roderick Paige, President-elect George W. Bush's
nominee as Secretary of Education, "may not understand the importance of
protecting children from in-school commercial advertising and
marketing." The letter asks the Senators to "tell Mr. Paige that
corporate advertising is not education and America's schoolchildren
should not be for sale."  The letter follows.

Dear Senator:

We write to express our concern that Roderick Paige, nominee for
Secretary of Education, may not understand the importance of protecting
children from in-school commercial advertising and marketing.  

Dr. Paige's record on this issue should be no comfort to parents.  Last
year, during his tenure as Superintendent of the Houston Independent
School District (HISD), the HISD agreed to an exclusive marketing deal
with Coca-Cola.  He also allowed the controversial in-school marketing
company Channel One to operate in some of Houston's public schools.  We
believe this shows some confusion about the purpose of the public
schools.

Schools are for learning, not selling.  But, regrettably, the commercial
presence in the schools is rising.  "In-school marketing has become a
growing industry," according to a report by the General Accounting
Office.  "Some marketing professionals are increasingly targeting
children in school, companies are becoming known for their success in
negotiating contracts between school districts and beverage companies,
and both educators and corporate managers are attending conferences to
learn how to increase revenue from in-school marketing for their schools
and companies." 

In recent months, Philip Morris Inc. distributed millions of textbook
covers to schoolchildren perhaps in an effort to lure them to smoke
tobacco.  Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo aggressively use the public schools
to promote soda pop, which, if consumed in excessive amounts may
contribute to obesity, tooth decay, osteoporosis, heart disease and
kidney stones, according to "Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks are Harming
Americans' Health," a report by the Center for Science in the Public
Interest.  Primedia's Channel One uses the schools to promote violent
and sexualized movies, video games, junk food, fast food and expensive
sneakers, to captive audiences of about eight million schoolchildren. 
For example, on December 8, Channel One promoted the movie "Dude,
Where's My Car?," which glorifies the sexual fantasies and drug use of
two pot-heads who party so wildly that they can't remember anything
about the night before.

We urge you to inquire thoroughly about Dr. Paige's views on such
marketing to schoolchildren.  For example, does Dr. Paige believe that
it was appropriate to use school time and taxpayer funds to promote
"Dude, Where's My Car?" to Houston schoolchildren and other children
across the country?  What, exactly, are his views on the use of the
public schools to promote soda pop, junk food and bad nutrition at a
time when our children are suffering from sharp increases in obesity and
Type 2 diabetes?

After inquiring of his views, we urge you to tell Dr. Paige that
corporate advertising is not education and America's schoolchildren
should not be for sale.

Sincerely,

Enola G. Aird, Director, Motherhood Project, Institute for American
Values
Brita Butler-Wall, former Chair, Washington State PTA Committee on
Commercial Influences
on Children in School
Ronnie Cummins, National Campaign Director, Organic Consumers
Association
Jane M. Healy, PhD, author, Failure to Connect
Michael F. Jacobson, co-author, Marketing Madness
Sut Jhally, Founder and Executive Director, The Media Education
Foundation
Carden Johnston, MD, FAAP, Chair, Task Force on Commercialism in Public
Schools, Alabama Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Jean Kilbourne, author, Deadly Persuasion
Velma LaPoint, PhD, Associate Professor of Human Development, Howard
University 
Diane Levin, Professor of Education, Wheelock College; author, Remote
Control Childhood
Susan Linn, EdD, Associate Director, Media Center of the Judge Baker
Children's Center
Dana Mack, Director, Childhood and Adolescence Project, Institute for
American Values; author, The Assault on Parenthood
Bob McCannon, Executive Director, New Mexico Media Literacy Project
Robert McChesney, Research Associate Professor, U. of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign; author, Rich Media, Poor Democracy
Jim Metrock, President, Obligation, Inc.
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media Ecology, New York University
Diane Morrison, PhD, Research Professor, School of Social Work,
University of Washington
Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, Director of the Media Center, Judge Baker
Children's Center, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Gary Ruskin, Director, Commercial Alert
Inger Stole, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Advertising, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Betsy Taylor, Executive Director, Center for a New American Dream
David Wall, President, Citizens' Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools,
Seattle, WA
David Walsh, PhD, President, National Institute on Media and the Family

<----letter ends here---->

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
* Dr. Paige, see a Washington Post column by Marjorie Williams at 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11337-2001Jan2.html>
* Marketing to children in school, see Commercial Alert's website at
<http://www.commercialalert.org>.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Please ask your senators to:
(1) find out what are Dr. Paige's views on marketing to children in
schools; and, 
(2) tell Dr. Paige that the public schools are for learning, not
corporate marketing or advertising.  

The congressional switchboard phone is (202) 225-3121. To find the fax
numbers and e-mail addresses of Members of Congress, see
<http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html>.

Commercial Alert opposes the excesses of commercialism, advertising and
marketing. 

Commercial Alert's materials are distributed electronically via the
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PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
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Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 
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Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax: (202) 833-2406
http://www.commercialalert.org | mailto:gary@essential.org
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