We
all remember bringing home the Scholastic Book Club order form with
anticipation that our mom just might say yes to ordering something.
I
remember as a kid, it was the coolest to order from because they had
all the popular books at the time. They also had the coolest posters.
I had Kirk Cameron plastered on my wall with a lucky purchase at the
book fair. They always ran out of the posters first.
Today,
some feel Scholastic should be banned from schools because of the
extras they are selling alongside their books.
According
to USA Today, "Some 1,262 teachers have signed a
petition by consumer group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
asking Scholastic to stop enlisting teachers to sell toys to
students."
The
teachers claim that Scholastic is taking advantage of their placement
in schools to market and make money off of unsuspecting kids.
"The
watchdog group says one third of the items sold in Scholastic's 2008
elementary and middle-school catalogs were either not books or books
packaged with other non-book items," in USA Today. "Besides toys,
non-book items sold include stickers, science activity kits, math
brain teasers, electronic dictionaries and audiobooks."
Scholastic
has been selling books for over 60 years. They are the sole publisher
of the Harry Potter series in the United States.
As a
teacher and a parent, I can understand the concerns of this group.
However, I am not sure it would not be more detrimental to ban
Scholastic from the schools entirely.
Personally,
I believe they do have a lot of toys. Scholastic claims that they use
the toys as incentives to get children reading. My son's first year
of school he begged for money to go to the book fair held in the
library. We sent ten dollars. We were shocked to see what he bought.
He did not purchase one book. He brought home a Spiderman picture in
a shiny gold frame, a pencil and a little ceramic figurine for his
sister. He was so proud of his buys and ended up crying when we lost
it.
Needless
to say, after kindergarten, he was monitored. I think that is the
solution. Don't boycott a company whose sole purpose is to get kids
to buy books. So they offer toys too? If it gets the kids inside
looking at books, then what harm is really done. It is our jobs as
parents to say, why don't you choose this book.
As a
teacher, I am thankful for Scholastic. They still are publishing
books at a time when that industry is failing. They have done what is
necessary to survive. They also offer incentives to teachers to earn
books and products for the classroom that if I bought them personally
it would damage my pocketbook.
One
teacher's complaint in USA Today is that there is too much branding
citing that they are selling books about Hannah Montanna. As a
teacher, I know not all kids love to read. Why not give them
something that they will read?
Feel
free to leave your thoughts on the matter in the comment section
below. Can you imagine school without Scholastic?
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