With the hand of commerciality creeping into that last bastion of innocence, the classroom, a look at the issues on the topic.

In a world where much of children's clothing is emblazoned with the manufacturer's logo or name, it may seem silly to quibble about commercialism in the classroom. Exchanging perks for advertising can be a Faustian bargain. A school may get freebies such as computers, teaching materials, shoes for sports teams or video equipment that taxpayers have been unwilling or unable to provide. The quid pro quo may seem painless. But there's danger in handing special interests a captive audience of children. A pioneer in this niche is Channel One, a company that offers free television equipment and slick news programs. The rub is that the shows contain product commercials that deskbound students cannot escape. More and more, companies are going after the school-age market to expose children early to brand names in hopes of cultivating loyalty. Unless checked, such commercial image building could lead to crass commercialism. Officials who let Trojan horses on school grounds owe it to parents to monitor content carefully and make it clear that they do not endorse particular brands. It would be naive to think schools can be ad-free zones. Brand names are everywhere. For example, The Courant and other advertisment-carrying newspapers circulate in many classrooms as valuable teaching tools. Baseball fields are often lined with billboards touting local businesses that helped pay for the facility. Some cafeterias are run by private food vendors, such as Taco Bell or Pizza Hut, whose corporate logos are visible. A wise policy is one that ensures any commercial interest is secondary to the educational value of an offer. A scoreboard given in the spirit of community good will, marked with the name of the donor, is more acceptable than, say, a vending contract given exclusively to a bottler. Children don't need soda to learn. Yet sports is a healthy part of any curriculum, and some towns may not be able to afford decent scoreboards. School boards with shrinking budgets should resist the temptation to turn classrooms into commercial centers. Generosity from businesses surely would be welcome. But selling space to the highest bidder has the potential to pile the perks on affluent districts and to subvert the public responsibility to provide an equal education for all children.

Anyone know a link to Channel One?