Teach Rather Than Shelter

When is a Coke machine not merely a Coke machine?

When it is located on the campus of a public school that has received a contribution in return for allowing the company to put it there. Then, depending on your point of view, it is:

a) A symbol of civic-minded corporate support for quality education.

b) A Trojan horse, inappropriately sneaking a sales pitch into what ought to be a sanctuary from the cacophony of consumerism.

c) Both of the above.

This long-bubbling debate fizzed up again recently when the Conejo Valley Unified School District signed a contract with Coca-Cola Co. that gives the school system nearly $100,000 in return for granting Coke the exclusive right to sell soft drinks on the district’s campuses. It’s the latest example of a growing trend toward partnerships between industry and the schools.

School administrators like such arrangements because they help provide a little breathing room in often-tight budgets. Companies like them because they reach a captive audience of young potential customers with many years ahead of them to exercise their buying habits.

Elsewhere in Ventura County:

* A Coke-donated marquee in front of Fillmore High School announces upcoming events while in the classrooms students keep up with current events each morning by watching Channel One, complete with commercials.

* At Adolfo Camarillo High School, Saturn of Oxnard turns the schoolyard into a car dealership every spring.

* In Oak Park, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza cater student lunches.

Some observers are troubled by this trend. Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-San Rafael) has introduced two bills that would curb corporate relationships with public schools.

We share dismay at the run-amok corporate sponsorship that has turned professional and college athletes into walking billboards and brought us such abominations as the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. We also respect those who believe public schools should provide respite from the never-ending barrage of advertising outside.

But we believe the schools have a more important role than sheltering their students from the world. They need to give their students the tools to survive and thrive in that world. That includes the ability to recognize media manipulation and to make wise, healthy, responsible choices in the face of temptation.

Ventura County schools have long emphasized the teaching of “media literacy,” defined as the skepticism and critical thinking skills to recognize slanted or hidden messages. The aim is to turn children into savvier consumers of television, movies, advertising and more, including what oozes from the Internet.

The key is not to shelter students from the sweet seduction of advertising but to teach them how to spot such propaganda for what it is.

So we see another role for those controversial Coke machines: teachers’ aides.