My wife is a teacher (as I have mentioned before). I am often amazed at the things that happen at schools these days. There are the typical programs such as allowing corporate sponsorship. Isn’t it strange to have Pizza Hut day? Coca Cola ONLY?
Well, I recently heard that at my wifes school they have a new program which makes the kids slave labour.
It is really a smart idea. Someone must have thought:
I want to mobilize a sales force.
Wait a minute. What if I use KIDS as a sales force!
- I can get them cheap by promising them prizes for selling well
- People always feel like they have to buy from a kid
This is what is happening. A slick set of sales people came into the school and got the kids excited about selling magazines. The kids that sell the most get toys such as “boom boxes”, skate boards, and more.
Why can’t we get someone in to get the kids excited about something that is actually educational? Instead, we get them running around selling Hunting and Fishing magazine.
Oh, and some of it goes to charity of course… but look at the small print on how much.
Why do I get more and more angry at the state of our educational system? The most frustrating part is that there is SO much potential. There are great people in the system (great teachers, and administrative people). And, if you spend some time with the kids you know that they have infinite potential. We are letting them down.
Oh, and we are leaving them a nice record deficit to deal with. What have my grandkids done for ME anyway!
