Commercial-Free Schools

What you can do: Parents

Commercial schemes seek to influence parental spending through “pester power”, sending advertisements home with students and harnessing peer pressure in school.

• Join the Campaign for Commercial-Free Education and work to resist unethical advertising to Irish schoolchildren.
• Speak to your child and/or other parents about commercial schemes targeting Irish schools. Explain the arguments against allowing commercial access to students in school.
• Contact your child’s school and explain that you don’t wish them to partake in commercial schemes.
• Where commercial material (sponsored magazines, letters promoting brands etc) is sent home in your child’s schoolbag, return them to the school indicating your position. Offer support for non-commercial alternatives.
• Remember, donating 5 cent to your child’s school is of more value in purchasing ICT equipment than €100 worth of “Computers for Schools” vouchers!
• Politely decline vouchers or tokens for in-school promotions when you shop.
• Raise this issue at your next Parents’ Association meeting and with the National Parents’ Council. Explain your views on commercial schemes and seek support among fellow parents.
• Raise educational underfunding with local and national politicians in your area. Let them know you don’t agree with cuts such as the PE equipment grant being suspended in 2002.
• Offer to help with formulating an agreed school policy to reduce the level of advertising students are exposed to and reinforce the educational mission of the school. Examine the Campaign for Commercial-Free Education’s Template Policy.

Contact us today for details.