Invasion of the Money Snatchers
Am I the only one out there who thinks the back to school campaigns designed to get us to go spend money on clothing, art supplies and new shoes has gotten out of hand?
I recently went (just like the other lemmings) to the store to stock up on my children’s school supply list. Now I ask you, why does any teacher need two four-count packages of dry-erase markers with an eraser from each child in the class? 24-27 erasers? Are they planning on lining a sound proof room with these things?
Paper plates, cotton balls, Ziploc bags, stickers? What happened to bring a box of crayons, a bottle of glue and a box of pencils, thank you very much?
Now don’t get me wrong. I deeply respect the educators who are out there being underpaid and over worked. My mother was an elementary teacher and so was my grandmother. I grew up a teacher’s kid and I know the kind of extra hours they put in. I’m just wondering if the whole corporate greed market has taken a hold of our schools in an insidious way to turn back to school into a shopping event on parallel with the day after Thanksgiving.
Have you seen these ads? “Buy X brand this week, and we’ll donate a dollar to your local schools.” Just a thought here, but if I wanted to give a dollar to my school, wouldn’t be easier for me to do just that, than spend $28 for a pair of jeans? It’s enough to dampen even a serious shopoholic’s enthusiasm.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. What I really want to know is why don’t they have a back to sanity campaign for the parents?
January 11th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
It’s so funny because as a teacher I understand the need to have plenty of supplies for class. On the other hand, as a parent I complain every year at the amount of school supplies I need to buy for my son!