Big companies want to get into the classrooms as soon as possible. Next year, 53 million American children will make up approximately $250 billion dollars worth of immediate spending (Long, 2000:1). If the children are properly marketed, this figure would rise exponentially in later years, leading to a lifetime of brand recognition. These children are beginning to associate certain products with the brand names that they see and use at school every day. This will then likely cause these children to continue to buy the same products later in life as well. This lifetime of purchasing power could lead to incalculable profits in future years.

Channel One is a daily newscast that is offered to students around the co

Nearly all of the 86,000 schools across the country use some sort of program where the schools receive money or equipment in exchange for proof-of-purchase coupons or receipts (McQueen, 2000:2). Is our public education system nothing more than an incentive based purchasing program, or are we trying to teach independent thought and creative thinking? Third grade math is being taught by using "Tootsie Rolls." Classroom business courses are being taught by touring students through McDonald's facilities. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are feuding over multi-million dollar contracts that would ensure student consumption of their products first (Manning, 1999:1). Nike offers free apparel and equipment for sports programs, only if the athletes will become walking billboards, wearing large logos on their jerseys and clothing. US West builds team scoreboards only for schools that will agree to exclusive vending deals.

There are some people who are fighting back against the onslaught of corporate propaganda, and it can make a difference. A group in Seattle, known as the Citizen's Campaign for Commercial-free schools (CCC), has been organizing meetings and "commercialism walk-throughs" in order to raise public awareness of the situation (Manning, 1999:3). In these walk-throughs, groups from the CCC will go and collect as much marketing material in the schools as they can, and send copies of their reports to the appropriate school boards. One schoolboard, with pressure from the CCC and other supporters, issued a resolution stating "We are opposed to exposing schoolchildren to corporate values in an educational environment where they assume that whatever is presented to

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1125
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)