Consumerism In High Schools

In today’s market driven society children can’t escape ads and their marketers, even their schools are filled with the advertiser’s products distracting the youth from learning.

According to Simon Benlow in "'Have It Your Way': Consumerism Invades Education", he fears if the word "customer" replaces the word "student", those students won't know the "difference between consumerist culture and college culture" (Benlow 143). Simon starts off his essay stating how he is hostile to the way the higher education has had the word "customer" take over the word "student". He then goes on giving an analysis on the differences between the two categories.

In the article, Every nook & nanny: the dangerous spread of commercialized culture, written by Gary Ruskin and Juliet Schor, the authors argue how corporations have had great influence on schools, television, movies, internet and other forms of media culture through advertising. Prior to 1989, advertising was not accepted in schools. Chris Whittle convinced schools to accept adverting by offering to loan TV sets providing children to view 10 minutes a day of news, banter and at least two minutes of advertisements through Channel One. Food and beverage companies soon entered the schools with ‘sponsored educational materials’ fed in their TV advertisements to the mass audience. Companies began ‘Ad creep’ because

And then there was high school. This is the first generation that came of age in the era of rampant advertising in the schools, as well as Channel One, the news program piped into schools complete with advertisements. As a Generation Xer who graduated from high school in 1988, I recall very few ads in school. A relatively short time later, the hallways, lunchrooms, and sports facilities of cash-strapped schools frequently are sponsored by corporations. When I ask students if this happened in their schools, they supply never-ending examples: stadiums dotted by Nike swooshes, lunchrooms filled with Pizza Hut and Chic Fil-A, a back-to-school party sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, even book covers sponsored by corporations. Then, of course, there’s the prom. Eschewed by some of my Gen X counterparts, the prom is back and bigger than ever, teaching future brides and grooms

Almost everyone in high school has a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Vine and large companies are taking advantage of that. “Another element of rhetoric that can be taken advantage of through social media is pathos. For example, many charitable campaigns are started through Facebook using emotional persuasion to gather more support. These campaigns draw on personal experiences with the cause, sympathy, and empathy to influence Facebook users to join the campaign and spread awareness through status updates.” (Peterson par 4) If students are shown how to recognize rhetorical strategies then they can know not to fall for the persuasion. Kids can stop being so influenced by the media and start thinking for themselves. If the new generation can learn to analyze commercials and advertisements then they can understand marketing ploys and the companies end

Even though people that children trust can have a big influence on their lives the media can also. One of the ways the media affects children are with images. Even though

School, teenagers learn about the feed, how to find the best bargains, how to get a job and how to decorate their rooms. Regular subjects such as literature and math are not in School. The constant advertisements running through their heads also ruin the future of the human race.

New York State teacher of the year John Taylor Gatto’s argument is untrue that school teaches the student how to be brainless consumers because the school teaches student’s skills that they are going to need for the future. Gatto claims that “ school didn’t have to train kids in any direct sense to think they should consume nonstop, because it did something even better: it encouraged them not think at all. And that left sitting ducks for another great invention of the modern era-marketing”(50). Gatto’s contends that school

From viewing McDonald’s dollar menus on the freeways to admiring at the latest iPhone 7 promotions, there is no doubt advertisements have interfered with our lives. While the elderly is beginning to reminisce on the carefree lifestyles they had, adolescents are suffering from the excessive advertisements(ads) that appear on a daily basis. With superfluous advertisements in every direction, a civilian’s attention is easily captivated.

Business marketers have wanted to get into schools for decades. Know why? Picture rows and rows of captive students who can't leave, switch channels during the commercial, or drag away the giant machine that plugs sugar-loaded soda. That's money in the bank for any company that can bypass the school doors. (McCollum)

Over half of eight to 12 year olds will spend their own money. This essay is about how advertisers target youth so they feel pressured to buy certain products. The three roles that advertisers play in the lives of youth are that advertisers overwhelm youth with ads, design ads to target youth so they nag their parents, and to target youth so they pressure others.

Throughout these last few decades, corporations have been entering schools and creating a pressure for the students to become life-long consumers for them. Companies do not really care for the education of the students; rather they care only about how they profit off of the children and young adults. Though there are different types of commercialism present in school campuses, a good percentage of the schools are receiving a majority of their sponsorships from soda and candy companies, which in turn is actually undermining the nutrition. Since there are a grand amount of advertisements being hung around the schools, students are being discouraged from critically thinking about brands, messages, or even the topics companies are conveying. Essentially, the freedoms of students are slowly being taken away because they are being brain-washed into becoming consumers of the different corporations from such an early

In today’s society, children attaining an education has become a very important essential in life. Most children in the United States of America attend public schools, due to the fact that parents do not have to pay for tuition. Public schools face many dilemmas and one of the most detrimental is budget cuts. Since public schools are often underfunded and “influenced by political winds and shortfalls”, it makes them quite vulnerable (Shortt 62). Due to budget cuts, schools agree to sponsor brands in order to gain funds. When schools agree to sponsor companies, not only does it harm children physically and mentally, it also distracts students from their goals in school. Companies care more about selling their products than the children’s welfare.

As renown author, Bryant H. McGill, once stated in his piece titled “Biodynamics, Anarchy, Consumer Democracy and the Danger of Monocultures,” “the folly endless consumerism sends us on a wild goose-chase for happiness through materialism.” This quote houses much truth in the sense that consumerism births a hazardous game to play. The novel, Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, describes a dystopian society filled with psychological manipulation, cloning technology, and citizens with vulgar emotional detachment, all thanks to the leading force, consumerism. At a young age, the World State teaches children to buy, buy, buy. Assisting this, Henry Ford, early 20th century industrialist and creator of the assembly line, attracts worship like

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent