Schools to educate the mind not dictate the shopping

sligo | consumer issues | event notice Sunday March 11, 2007 16:48 by Joseph Fogarty - Campaign for Commercial-Free Education chairperson at commercialfreeeducation dot com

The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education will hold a workshop for teachers and parents concerned about commercial advertising in schools in Sligo Education Centre on 14th March at 7.30pm.

Each year Irish schools receive a deluge of commercially-produced classroom material, enticements to participate in incentive schemes and offers to enter high-profile competitions sponsored by a variety of companies. Among those who have targeted schools in this way are Tesco, SuperValu, SPAR, Centra, MACE, Independent Newspapers, McDonalds, ESSO, Cadbury, Coca-Cola and Renault.

Many such promotions exploit school children as a captive audience, pressurise parents and prolong government underfunding of areas such as P.E. and Information Technology.

The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education is a voluntary body that believes children should not be exposed to marketing campaigns in the guise of education. The workshop on the 14th will allow teachers and parents examine and assess current schemes found within schools. Ways in which schools may respond to this growing trend will also be discussed.

The workshop will be facilitated by Joseph Fogarty, principal of a Sligo primary school and member of The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education. For further information email chairperson@commercialfreeeducation.com.