Indoctrination

I cringed when my son spotted the logo on the empty box of tissues that I was about to crush for recycling.

"Look, Mommy, BoxTops!"

BoxTops, if you're not already familiar, are one of these corporate programs that encourage consumers to buy their own products, save the labels or packaging so that your school can cash in on prizes or computers or whatever. Campbell's made a huge hit with their soup labels for computers program.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm all for supporting his school. I have a collection of not only boxtops, but the soup labels and, believe it or not, the little tabs off soda cans, which apparently can be collected for some other program.

But it's just a sad reality that the public schools can't get or pay for what they need that they have to resort to these special programs that only encourage consumerism.

And it troubles me that my Kindergarten boy has been so indoctrinated into the necessity of all of this that he gets excited any time we see something in the pantry that has the BoxTops logo. (Mind you, I never EVER discussed this with him, so I'm sure he learned it from school).

Then to make it worse, he sees BoxTops at the supermarket and asks to buy the product, even if it's something I would never eat or something I would never want him to eat.

Why aren't they excited about educational achievements in the same way?

My first ever PTA meeting was one of those indoctrination sessions.
Please save your labels, boxtops, soda can tabs.
Please go to this particular fast food restaurant on this night because the school gets 10 percent of the proceeds.
Please buy this. Please buy that.

All of this on top of the normal school fundraisers, as well as having to buy school supplies and other things.

The PTA was totally money focused, with very little discussion about the fact that the school is not rated in the Florida system as an A school and what is being done to improve that. And what new academic projects we were undertaking (other than the read-a-thon.). The only good thing I got out of it was a few volunteer projects, like a day when we can spruce up the school.

What I am bracing for is a long 12 years of forced consumerism, all because the government budget is so screwed up that schools don't have what they need (or school districts don't spend their money wisely.)