Ads: anywhere and everywhere

We are use to seeing ads in magazines, newspapers, websites, on the side of highways, and even on everyday objects, but what about school websites, school buses, and school buildings? School, the one place where children are supposed to be kept safe from the empowerment of advertising, is now caving into it as well. In a recent article by Jeff Martin, on the Commercial Alert website, the scary reality of ads appearing on school websites became apparent. A growing amount of schools around the nation are experiencing budget cuts and are left desperate for revenue. Although some parents and citizens are outraged by the thought of having advertising on school websites, school officials say it is the only way. Schools promise to keep the ads educational and appropriate, but what happens when the school is left with the need of more money and the only ads available are McDonald's?

Although these advertisements are meant to be "symbol free" and just innocent ways to advertise, the truth is every media image has an ideology. Every media image is polysemy, meaning it holds a various amount of messages. Also, most ads, no matter what they are advertising, promote some sort of worldview or lifestyle. Children are at the age where they are beginning to create their views and beliefs, and advertisments/media will play a role in these developments. Whether the ads presented on the school's website, or school bus are educational or not, they are still going to influence the children. They are too young to be able to know the difference between an advertisement and "real life."

Ads are everywhere, but should they be associated with the educational system as well? Is there not any other way a school district can make more revenue other than advertisement? What are your thoughts about this issue? Would you want your little sister or brother being advertised as they take the bus to school every morning, or every time your high school sibling goes online to look up their next school soccer game? It is a sad day when bake sales and spirit wear fund raisers are no longer enough to raise the extra money a school needs.