In School Advertising

Other than being the consumers and influential in setting the trends of today, children and adolescents are also the consumers of tomorrow - and that has made the advertising fraternity come up the concept of in school advertising, wherein individuals of that particular age group are targeted using specific methods of advertising. There is no doubt that the concept has been successful for advertisers, but it has also come under the scanner for its alleged bad influence on the children.

In School Advertising - Boon or Bane?

In this type of advertising, various school activities are sponsored by the advertisers with the intention of capturing the attention of the target audience - the students. These activities range from sponsoring the literacy programs and awareness campaigns, to sponsoring the performance based rewards. The practice of direct advertising has been in practice for quite sometime, wherein the advertisers have resorted to age appropriate advertisements in the form of banners and video films in the school.

If we trace the history of this concept, one of the best example is the 12 minute news for the children started by the Whittle Communications, which had a 2 minute slot for age appropriate ads. This practice was also the trigger factor for the debate - is advertising in schools good or bad? Both the sides, i.e. those supporting the practice and those opposing it, are armed with the benefits and negative effects of the same to support their stance.

Benefits
Those who support the trend of advertising in schools argue that the education sector and the corporate sector need to go hand in hand, and that's exactly what this concept is doing. The trend of commercialization has made it to all the sectors, and if the same makes it to the education sector, it will be beneficial in helping the corporate world and education sector work together. On one hand, it would mean a captive audience for the corporate world, and on the other it would mean a simple way to raise funds for educational programs for the schools. Sponsored education material is one of the best example of the benefits of advertisements in schools. Such initiatives on the part of the corporate world doesn't just provide them a platform to advertise their products, but also ensures that problems like lack of funds don't hamper the progress of the public schools.

Negative Effects
Children don't realize that the advertisements are meant to sell the products. Owing to their inability to think rationally, they tend to accept the ads at their face value. The fact that these children are defenseless against the advertisements tends to make them more vulnerable to the negative effects of advertising on children. They don't realize that the claims made in these advertisements seldom reflect the reality. Yet another prominent negative effect of this trend is incessant commercialization of the education sector. The idea of using education as a tool for commercial benefits doesn't find a place in the ethical norms of the society. At the same time, using the children as a captive audience is also hard digest.

These were some of the positive and negative aspects of this practice which have put the administration in dilemma about it future. Several countries of the world have banned this trend, while others have put some restrictions on it. It is a well-known fact that the children get influenced easily, and if the corporate world is trying to capitalize on their vulnerability only to make profits, then the trend is better off scrapped.