Proposition:
For-profit corporations should not be able to host events at public schools.
Argument 1 - promoting brands and products
in schools is unethical and demoralizing
● Should should be a place where
students are subject to learning and
not targeted advertisement
● By forcing students to take part in
school wide events hosted by
for-profit corporations, which are often
disguised as fun opportunities for
students but are really just for the
purpose of advertising and making
money off of impressionable youth,
schools are taking away from the
value of education by implying that
students being subjected to
advertising at school is more
important than them learning at school
● Advertising has an extreme impact on
young people, so when products like
junk foods are promoted at a school
event, an unhealthy lifestyle is being
forced upon impressionable students
● Especially elementary aged children
can be harmed psychologically,
educationally and health-wise by
school-business partnerships
(ThinkProgress)
http://hackeducation.com/2017/09/06/inequali
ty-ethics-ed-tech​/
● Policy in school district is needed in
order to regulate who gets to control
financial matters
○ “Teachers can’t be fully
trusted”
● System in place to make sure $$ is
ethical and legal
● Schools find other methods, like
Donors Choose, to compensate for
the money school districts fail to
provide
● Two teachers became social media
influencers for promoting teacher
related products to other teachers and
subsequently earned money for the
school
● “How are our imaginations about the
future of education and education
technology shaped by the narratives
we see promoted by these companies
and by the ambassadors they’ve
chosen to speak for them?”
● “Should teachers be profiting from the
leveraging of their profiles and
positions in the classroom? Is there
sufficient transparency? What rights
do students have in these settings
where their teachers are “brand
ambassadors”?
● Students find themselves in the
middle of these issues
○ How are they affected?
http://theconversation.com/why-schools-and-
corporate-brands-shouldnt-mix-6087
● Various corporations, like weight loss
company Jenny Craig, have
attempted to build brand awareness
with both teachers and school children
● “When health psychology researcher
Jennifer Harris​ and her colleagues at
Yale University ​examined the impact
of advertising​ on adult and child food
 choices, they found both groups were
primed to eat more food when they
were exposed to advertising.”
● If children are constantly exposed to a
particular brand in an education
environment, they will subconsciously
make associations with that brand,
which will then carry on to outside of
school
○ That brand will then be more
desirable to the child, which
may not be the best if it’s an
unhealthy brand
● Parents are not with their children at
school, so parents are unable to
counteract any negative influences for
their child

http://neatoday.org/2015/11/04/commercialis
m-in-schools-no-windfall-for-districts-and-stud
ents-pay-a-huge-price/

Rebuttal:
https://cdn-files.nsba.org/s3fs-public/16-Gilsb
ach-Creative-Revenue-Streaming-Paper.pdf
● Nancy Boninger, a researcher with the
National Education Policy Center at
the University of Colorado in Boulder,
argue that advertisements in schools
is not consistent with the teaching of
critical thinking, and often what is
being sold can run counter to what is
taught in the schools. In addition, she
argues, ads often come with polarized
gender stereotypes and materialist
perspectives, which can harm
students’ self-esteem
● Third parties have no Constitutional
right to speech within the schools
unless the school itself, provides it by
opening a forum. A limited public
forum is opened by allowing
third-party access through general
advertising rules and/or permissions.
○ DiLoreto v. Downey School
District a school booster club
attempted to post ads on the
 school baseball fence, only to
be found not in compliance
with school policy (and the
courts agreed)
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/educati
on/2010-03-17-school-website-ads_N.htm

Argument 2 - for-profit corporations often take https://groundswell.org/public-schools-private

advantage of public schools and their -fundraisers/
budgets
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/
09/08/education-inc-how-private-companies-p
rofit-public-schools

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answ
er-sheet/wp/2016/06/24/politicians-say-they-c
are-about-education-now-public-school-advoc
ates-are-putting-them-to-the-test/

https://thinkprogress.org/these-corporations-t
hat-raise-money-for-schools-keep-48-percent
-for-themselves-7e529b0cd81c/

https://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/driving

Rebuttal:
“Well, schools still get slightly more than half
of the money SO there”
“Well actually in some cases that is not true
[evidence] and the money that is made is not
worth the tradeoff of the effects that the
unethical advertising can have on students.”

Thesis For-profit corporations should not be able to host events at

public schools because not only is promoting brands and
products in schools unethical and demoralizing, but for-profit
corporations also often take advantage of public schools and
their budgets.

Introduction/first speech Schools should be a place where students are subject to

learning and not targeted advertisement. A study conducted in
2014 by the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois
found that more than 70% of elementary and middle school
and 90% of high school students have been exposed to
commercial marketing in school. If children are constantly
 exposed to a particular brand in an education environment,
they will subconsciously make associations with that brand,
which will then carry on to outside of school.

Crossfire #1

Second speech

Crossfire #2

Rebuttal speech

Grand crossfire

Final focus speech

1. Introduction
a. Hook
 i. Did you know that school fundraisers and advertising programs in the country’s
largest school districts are providing less than half of one percent of school
revenues at most? For decades, public schools have been prime real estate for
greedy corporations to take advantage of not only young students, but their
teachers, as well.
b. I’m Ariana Villa, and my partner Maggie Spire and I will prove to you today that for-profit
organizations should not be able to host events at public schools.
c. Contentions
i. In order to prove this resolution to you, we will present three contentions. First, I
will prove to you that for-profit organizations often take advantage of the budgets
of public schools, and will explain how this further damages already struggling
school districts. Then, in our second constructed speech, Maggie will cover why
promoting brands and products in schools is unethical and demoralizing, which
will break down into our second and third contentions. By forcing students to take
part in school wide events hosted by for-profit corporations, schools are taking
away from the value of education. Finally, she will introduce how advertising can
have a detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of young people,
and therefore has no place in school settings.
d. First speech
i. Teens only became recognized as profitable and strategic marketing tools for big
corporations in the 1980s, in which an expanding market lead to more spending.
Fast forward to today, and teens are still a prominent role in the American
market. According to the American Psychological Association, teenagers
influence around $600 billion worth of spending alone. This makes
advertisements in public schools the perfect place for corporate giants to take
advantage of those who think they’re in for a deal - especially those who need it
most. An instance of this can be found locally in Annapolis, Maryland.
Boosterthon, an independent for-profit company has recently found themselves
under fire for their $2,000 fee and 48% cut from all profits made from their
events. This margin gets even wider when added fees are placed on for varied
reasons, from the number of participants to how much the event raises. These
instances often end up hurting schools, rather than helping them. The same
company hosts events across 35 states, and similar companies have events
across the entire country. One may ask why schools keep resorting to for profit
organizations if statistics consistently show how ineffective they are? This most
likely stems from schools not receiving enough money in their budgets, and
subsequently wanting to find revenue from alternate sources. Some schools go
with methods such as Donors Choose, a site in which willing donors are able to
more traditionally decide whether or not they want to donate, and if so, how much
- unfortunately, many schools go with corporate run events in hopes of receiving
more money in a shorter time. In 2012, Public Citizen surveyed the 25 largest
school districts in the country, only to find that the most successful case of
fundraising in these districts was 0.3% of the school district’s total budget. In
scenarios like these, fundraisers benefit particularly the companies, while schools
are left with little to put forth their efforts. This especially effects schools who
need the money the most. Just over half of U.S. public school students qualify for
federal free and reduced lunch programs, meaning that services like Donors
Choose won’t necessarily work due to families being unable to afford it, leaving
them nearly forced to go along with for profit company schemes. And, while
for-profit corporations may take form in ways that one would typically assume -
cookie dough sales, fun-runs, magazine transactions - they’re also present in
ways that one may not expect. That math textbook you used last period by
McGraw Hill was heavily criticized for their inclusion of corporate companies,
such as Coca-Cola and Nike sneakers; the vending machines you went to before
class were most likely added as part of an exclusive 200- county wide contract
between your school district and the corporations; even the computers you used
in the library before class might contain ads encouraging shopping at certain
stores, such as what is happening in low-income, elementary level New York City
Public Schools. The use of corporations is manifesting itself in the daily lives of
public school students and as of right now, shows no signs of stopping. It is
essential for these misleading corporations to take their business outside of
school areas and stop taking advantage of not only schools and their budgets,
but also teachers and students.
 e. Crossfire
f. Rebuttal speech
i. It is undeniable that there is an equity issue in the United States. To put it simply,
the financial support schools get vary from place to place, so while saying
banning the presence of for profit corporations on school grounds may be easy
for one school to say, this simply might not be possible for schools who don’t
have any other options. A real life example of this can be found in Northwest
Washington. The PTA at an affluent school has been setting up a christmas tree
selling event for the past couple of years that has been met with much success.
Through the event and other parent donations, the school is looking to raise
around $225,000 this year alone. With this, students are able to gain access to
field trips, technology, teacher grants, etc. This outright seems very imbalanced
to neighboring counties that might not have this privilege; however, this school is
doing something important in setting an example. Not only are they getting funds
from a source that is not from a corporation, but they’re also donating it to other
low-income schools. Now a widespread occurrence, schools all over are
generating funds for the School-to-School initiative, an organization that sets its
goal on giving previously struggling schools more funding. Now, this is not to say
this organization alone will fix all issues, but it's a good stepping stone in building
up one’s revenue in an ethical and promising way. Another resource that has
been incredibly useful in assisting the growth of finances are online fundraising
sites, such as GoFundMe. While getting donations from parents may be difficult
for some students, getting donations from other people looking to help may not
be as difficult. It is important to realize that funding doesn’t only stem from big
companies - it can be decently found from other sources too.
2. First speech
a. The nation’s 49.5 million public school students have become increasingly
targeted by consumer product companies in the past decade. For-profit
corporations are incentivizing advertisements in schools by hosting events and
offering prize-winning opportunities for students and teachers in an attempt to
mask their true colors - which are solely to profit off of impressionable young
students. Just last month here at Montgomery Blair High School, a company by
the name High School Nation hosted an event at our school, which was arranged
by our principal and promoted on social media and throughout the school as a
“fun, free concert event” that, as quoted from HSN’s twitter bio “introduces
students to opportunities in music, arts and media.” The event took place during
school hours and was set up on Blair’s turf field. All students were required to
leave class to attend this event. Upon arriving at the field, students were
bombarded by staff members handing out cheap freebies from sponsored brands
mainly including Takis and Hollister. A stage and tents with activities for students
had been set up with Hollister’s logo plastered all over them, while the singers
and performers went around offering students more free products if they followed
them and HSN on social media. It seemed as if the event was promoting brands
to students far more than it was promoting anything that actually had to do with
“the arts.” If you go onto High School Nation’s website, you will see that the
majority of the content on the website is descriptions of their sponsors, in fact
Hollister’s tab actually has no description and simply provides the links to their
online store. The website claims that HSN will provide public schools with quote
“​gear and software needed to kick-start a fully functional on-campus recording
studio,” which Blair has not yet received, and they also claim that they are quote
“doing their part to help student-athletes get the equipment they need for success
on and off the playing field,” which is ironic considering the driving of HSN’s large
trucks on the turf damaged the field, derailing the seasons for many of Blair’s fall
sports teams. Considering Blair had to pay for this event, and possibly for the
damage that was inflicted on the field, it can be easily inferred that the hosting of
this event did more harm than good for the school. By taking up time that could
be used for learning and instruction with an event such as High School Nation,
the value of education is being degraded in that the message being sent is
essentially one that says to a student that them being advertised to and
manipulated into giving their money to for-profit corporations is more important
than them actually getting their education, which is what school is supposed to be
for. This is just one example of the immoral advertising ploys used by companies
and corporations in schools. Another example would be McDonald’s McTeacher
Night, where schools can pay for teachers to sit behind a counter at a local
McDonald’s and serve burgers and fries to students to raise money for the
school. Faith Boninger, a researcher at the University of Colorado, states that “If
you’ve got companies sponsoring programs, activities, and lessons in schools,
you’re creating an environment that doesn’t encourage critical thinking about
consumer choices and the impact of corporations,” which is why this type of
fundraiser is unethical, as when a school takes part in a corporate event like
McTeacher night, the teachers are exploited as advocates for McDonald’s, which
leads students to feel encouraged to spend their money and eat at McDonald’s.
This leads me into our third and final contention where I will discuss the negative
effects that advertising can have on students educationally, psychologically and
health-wise. As mentioned previously, advertising in schools can prevent
students from being able to think critically about their choices as a consumer,
which not only intrudes on their learning capabilities by degrading the classroom
environment but can also hinder their growth into a valuable member of society.
The possible negative impacts of particularly the advertising of food on the
physical health of teens has been extensively researched and verified. Looking
back at High School Nation, you can recall that Takis, which is a brand of the
company Barcel USA, was one of the events’ main sponsors, and students were
given multiple bags of Takis on their way out of the event. This encourages
students to either start to or continue to buy unhealthy snacks, giving their money
to big companies like Barcel USA, which is piling on to the obesity crisis. The
obesity crisis is further heightened by programs such as McTeacher, for obvious
reasons. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, in the
years 2015-2016, the prevalence of obesity was 18.5% and affected around 13.7
million children and adolescents aged 2-19. This statistic is not decreasing, and
executive director of the National Education Association’s Healthy Futures
program, Jim Bender, states that “the practice of exploiting educators and
jeopardizing children’s health for the sake of corporate profits is unconscionable.”
Companies manipulate the minds of consumers in order to profit off of them
through many tactics surrounding consumer behavior, for example in a paper
from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, the author explains that
“reconstructive memory processes suggests that advertising can exert a powerful
retroactive effect on how consumers remember their past experiences with a
product,” which is just one way that companies can utilize advertising, which is
why it has no place in public schools. Thank you.
i. By forcing students to take part in school-wide events hosted by for-profit
corporations, schools are taking away from the value of education
 1.
ii. Advertising can have a detrimental impact on the physical and mental
health of young people
1.
3. Crossfire
4. Grand crossfire
5. Final speech
https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/14/business/commercialism-in-us-schools-is-examined-in-ne
w-report.html

commercialism-in-schools-no-windfall-for-districts-and-students-pay-a-huge-price

Search “commercialism in americas schools”