With corporate social responsibility becoming the new “it factor” in everyday business transactions and policies, some will say that corporations are becoming more socially aware and that this newfound awareness consequently creates positive effects for us and our environment. Let’s take a look at the Ronald McDonald House: McDonald's is giving a home to the families of terminally ill children -- while at the same time causing obesity. Oh, the irony. I know it can be a bit hard to wrap your head around the idea of McDonald's helping our population instead of hurting it. But when we take a closer look at the growing relationships companies have with our society, including places like our schools, it seems like a double-edged sword. As corporate partnerships detract from the learning environment and distract students, schools without partnerships are unable to fund improvements, so the real question is: should schools choose to sell out?
The only sane answer is yes -- the gains outweighs the losses. What gains, you ask? Well, corporate partnerships give schools the ability to make changes and renovations. Whether that is raising the salary of your out-of-this-world English teacher, building more classrooms in the hope of reducing your 40-person math class or even funding a new school cafeteria so that mystery meat is no longer on the menu, the increase in cash flow gives schools the flexibility to think beyond the basics of paper and pencils. After all, as a student, I can tell you that if faced with the choice between slimy cafeteria pizza or cheese-stuffed Domino's, I would choose Domino's every time. Not only do these changes help everyday student life and performance, but they also improve the reputation of the school in the eyes of prospective parents and students. The ever-so-important questions of who has the newest gym, the biggest basketball court or the smartest Boards are important factors for ol’ Daddy Warbucks when deciding which school Annie will attend. So if installing a new computer lab or renovating our faux-pas of a West Wing means putting a McDonald's arch over my history classroom, all I can say is: go for it.
Who could object to these improvements? Someone protective, principled, moral... hmm. Someone like the lioness mom who “only wants the best for her little Johnny.” And she does have a valid argument. What if Johnny sees the McDonald's arches or the Dick's Sporting Goods posters decorating the hallways and gets distracted from his work? What if his new “more colorful” environment detracts from his ability to concentrate on his studies? And what if, instead of focusing on his lesson about synonyms and antonyms, he can only imagine playing at recess with that Michael Jordan basketball from Dick's or wishing for school to be over so that he can eat that extra-juicy McBurger? You see, mom's anxiety holds a grain of truth. In our traditional school system, students should be focused on the learning -- not on the ridiculous advertisements or flashy signs of corporations. When little Johnny writes “fries” instead of “cries” on his spelling test because he was distracted by the corporate signage above his teacher's desk, you can bet that lioness mom will be coming out for blood. So why would we let this happen? It’s about time we all embraced our inner lion and sheltered our children from the distractions of the outside world.
So here we are with our very own Sophie’s Choice. Do we choose to sacrifice our children to the circling corporate vultures? Or do we shelter our students from the in-your-face advertisers and leave them in buildings with crumbling walls? Well, the thing is, some schools don’t have a choice but to partner up with corporations. For some, these partnerships keep them afloat and pay for the basic necessities that keep their schools functioning year-round. I think it would be naive to try to keep corporations out of the education sphere because, frankly, we can’t afford it. As school budgets are being cut, programs in arts, sciences and athletics are toppling right alongside them. Now I ask the moms: do you want to be the reason Johnny can’t try out for the basketball team or compete in the Science Olympiad? Do you want to be the reason Annie can’t pursue her career in theater for lack of a theater program? I didn’t think so. So, even though corporate partnerships aren’t ideal, we've made our choice: they are and will continue to be a necessity.
