The lazy days of summer are over and cooler temperatures are flirting on the horizon. It’s back to school time. Big yellow buses wind their way through the neighborhoods collecting our most precious cargo. But there is an insidious predator lurking, invited with open arms by our school administrators to prey on our children. Sanctioned even, by our elected officials with a greasy “No Child Left Behind* smile who promise parents a free and useful education for our kids.
I have the glossy paged, ever so professionally printed evidence in my hands. What, you may ask, is this horrible perfidy? Well, my friend, I’ll tell you. It’s the School Fund Raiser, which should be titled “Governement Sponsored Child Prostitution”.
Who are these people, these businesses who shamelessly use my child to pad their bottom line? How did they so effortlessly insinuate into the public school system to use and abuse and discard my child’s hopes and expectations with the promise the Free School Party if you sell 75 items? Items so grossly overpriced even the most hopelessly addicted shop-aholic would cringe and hide their credit cards? More importantly, Why do our Elected Officials turn their heads and make themselves blind to this scheme of prostituting my child for the empty promise of raising “funds” for our schools? And more than that, why must we recieve these utterly contemptible fund raisers more than twice a year? Are our schools so ill funded that it becomes acceptable to allow our children to be pimped out in such a shameless fashion?
The teachers I know absolutely abhor the fundraisers. They distract the kids, and more importantly, take valuable class time to collect, collate and distribute. And woe to the teacher that improperly recorded the sales. More often than not she is required to issue the refund or provide out of her/his own pocket, the funds to cover the error. Sure, there are teachers that give lip service to the monstrosity because they are not provided with enough materials in the classroom to even cover their state mandated curricula, but that does not mean they agree with it.
I do know that our schools are badly in need of stuff, but how is that the onus of the children? State Representatives and Congress should look a little closer at our schools. Trim the fat at the administration level (and oh, the stories I could tell about THAT, but that is for another post). I just don’t see how pimping out my kids is in their best interest. There isn’t any way you can spin it to make me believe it.
Personally, I’d like to see more of a community effort. It takes a village to raise a child, right? That’s the line we have been fed. Well, how about acting on that propaganda. I’ll gladly spend $100.00+ and cook * all day* Saturday making spagetti for 200 people. They can sell that instead of the $25.00 four ounce box of chocolate. Not only would the school get all the profits, it would at least bring the parents together for one night. Hell, it might even inspire those parents to get invovled.
If you have children in school and have been presented with the School Fund Raiser, I challenge you to write on the envelope;
“I will not permit you to pimp my child. We refuse to participate in Government Sponsored Child Prostitution”.
Yes, I know your kids will give you that look, like you just stomped their favorite puppy to death in front of them, but you’re the parent. Cowboy up and take a stand to protect your kids from charlatans and con men dressed up as the Candy Man