Ding dong. It's a highschool guy selling coupon booklets for 20% off places you never go. Hello, would you like to buy this pricey wrapping paper? No? Well what about these pizzas or tubs of macadamia nut cookie dough? Doesn't everyone need a 5-lb snowflake tin of popcorn for the holidays?
I dare anyone in North America to tell me they have never been approached by a kid selling something of behalf of her school. If it's not the kid, it's the parent who brought the sheet to work to "help" their son increase sales.
If you are a relative, you probably feel like you really have to buy something. If you are the parent, you know you better.
If you are like me, you dread fundraisers. There seems to be more and more of them so you might live in dread all school year long (insert face scrunch emoto here). They are demands for money to "support" the school because there just isn't enough government money to properly fund education. (Ooooo don't even get me started about the government...) The good children will sell as much of this stuff as possible and will be recognized with a special prize and maybe their name on a plaque. The bad children will not do much and will be shunned and everyone will know they failed because the results are celebrated in class with an accompanying parade. Losers must watch in shame while the teachers and ringleaders make a big deal about the winners.
C'mon, is it really this bad you ask? Yes. When the fundraisers are introduced to each grade level, someone promoting it ethusiastically tells the rapt audience about the prizes they will earn at each sales level. The kids float home dreaming of the big prize and eagerly tell their parents they have to - absolutely must - sell, sell, sell. They want to sell The Most. Why? For the nifty prize, of course.
The kids aren't taught about the value of the items to sell or the concept behind the fundraiser. The sponsors merely appeal to greed and show the kids "what they get" out of the deal. Great. Another vapid reinforcement of selfishness and materialism. Yuck. That's what wrong with school fundraisers. They are altruistic decreasers of integrity.
And just try having more than one kid fundraising at the same time. How does Nana decide who to support? Does she buy a roll of wrapping paper from each of the four kiddos? Anyone stop to think Nana might be living on a fixed income? What if the fundraiser's very own family is financially strapped and cannot afford to outlay anything to "support" this important project? What does that do to the kid? Parents? Someone needs to break it to you that if your boss shows up expecting fundraiser sign-ups that you needn't worry about having to comply. Even if you buy, your boss is not going to like you better. Your job is safe.
Not only do fundraisers use guilt techniques and encourage a "what's in it for me" mindset, the prizes they give out are poorly made. Cheap. None of the prizes are keepers you can pass on to the next generation. They dazzle in the promotional photos, but in reality they will break within days if they even make it home on the bus in one piece. Then you have a disappointed kid to console. What a fiasco! You bought all that cookie dough for nothing, huh? Plus: why are any dollars being used for prizes if funds are needed so badly? Hmmmm.
When my kids brought home the glossy fundraiser flyers, I used them as a tool to teach that we can't simply buy everything everyone asks us to. No matter what the reason. It doesn't make us "bad" not to buy. If we have a need for it and the available cash - sure. Since there were fourteen other grandchildren on the family tree, we did not hit up grandparents. We did not bug friends or neighbors either. They had their own little fundraisers. I also pointed out how poorly made the prize was, and how we don't do things to get a prize. I would offer to buy a similar prize that was better made and would last if they worked on a specific goal for a period of time. I coached our kids not to accept any messages at school about being less than others or place their value in what they brought in. And no slumping down at their desk when the "winner" was crowned, either. Just because we didn't spend a lot of money does not make us wrong. Do not receive that message.
Presuring the kids to perform is wrong. Let's teach our kids that we are always their best teachers and will set them straight in this world. Redirect their thoughts out of that herd mindset to blindly follow. And petition the principal to limit the promotion of fundraisers and give parents the opt-out option at the start of the school year. There are other ways to earn money besides sending kids out there and dangling carrots in front of their eager, bright eyes.
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