LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
LAWMAKERS TOUT SCHOOL COMMERCIALISM STUDY
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In an effort to push their "student-privacy" initiative, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Representative George Miller (D-CA) held a news conference September 14 to discuss a new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), "Commercial Activity in Schools." Miller and Dodd called for the GAO study when they introduced the sweeping privacy bills they have promoted all year.
The focus of the report, the first government investigation of commercial activities in schools, is on the sale of products and direct advertising in public schools. Only a brief mention was made of market research, and none of the schools visited by investigators reported any. The report did not include a discussion of surveys or data collection.
But the report, by the congressional watchdog agency, said, "In-school marketing has become a growing industry. Some marketing professionals are increasingly targeting children in schools."
Dodd said, "the three Rs shouldn’t be retail, resale, and rebate. We must ask what price our children may be paying."
The GAO did not make recommendations nor did it assess the impact on children, which investigators said was impossible to do in a society in which advertising is pervasive. But Miller and Dodd said they will ask the National Institute for Child Health and Development, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to examine the impact of commercialism in schools on children.
"There is a tremendous amount of information being solicited and used to market back to kids without administrative consent or parental consent," Dodd told The New York Times.
"This report indicates that many schools and parents are not prepared for the onslaught of marketers trying to reach the lucrative youth market through classrooms," said Miller.
Miller skirted a reporter’s question about the value of information used for college recruiting and scholarships, but quipped that this goes beyond getting into Princeton or Yale. Dodd added, "anyone who believes they’re gathering information to make sure your kid gets into Yale or Harvard, you know, is living in a dream world."
Legislative Outlook
The lawmakers renewed their call for passage of the Student Privacy Protection Act, which requires parental consent before students provide information to organizations. Both lawmakers focused on online activities, especially ZapMe! Dodd stated his continued interest in attaching legislation to an education bill this year, but he acknowledged that it was highly unlikely that would happen.
Since the report focused primarily on product sales and direct advertising, it did not give Miller and Dodd a new rationale to support their legislation, as they had hoped. But they may emphasize the report’s finding that only 19 states have statutes or regulations that address school-related commercial activity as a reason for federal involvement.
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