Should Ads Be Allowed at School?

• Author: Calvert, Cynthia
• Position: Debate

Faced with budget cuts, a growing number of school districts nationwide are allowing companies to place ads on school property, including lunchrooms, gyms, parking lots, and buses. The arrangement can benefit both parties. Schools earn money because businesses pay them to advertise on campus. And businesses are able to reach potential new customers: you and your friends. People in favor of allowing ads on school grounds say it's a great way for districts to bring in extra money without having to raise taxes in the community. But opponents say allowing ads on school grounds isn't the answer to shrinking budgets.

YES Most students are surrounded by ads from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep: everything from the McDonald's billboard you pass on the way to school to your best friend's T-shirt with American Eagle written across the front. And then there are all the ads you see online when you're watching a YouTube video or researching a term paper.

In fact, marketing experts estimate that the average person sees about 5,000 to 10,000 ads every day. All of them are designed to get you to buy or use a product. Yet most of these ads don't bring a single dollar to your school. And that's something we could change.

In the United States, advertising is a multibillion-dollar industry. What if your school district could harness some of that financial power to supplement its budget? Many schools nationwide are facing steep budget cuts and are in desperate need of money to pay for everything from teachers' salaries to new laptops.

I own a firm that handles marketing for school districts across Texas, and we are very careful to choose only family-appropriate advertisers, such as local restaurants or sporting goods stores. We help place messaging on the outside of school buses, on school websites, and at school athletic venues. The ads are primarily targeted to adults--parents, teachers, and other members of the community--not to kids.

Over the past 11 years, we've raised millions of dollars for Texas schools. That money has helped pay for new computers, textbooks, supplies, team uniforms, teachers' salaries, and so much more. At the same time, local businesses are able to reach new customers. It's a true win-win.

Advertising is highly profitable and is here to stay. Why not capture some of that market and put those dollars to work at school, where they're needed most?

--CYNTHIA CALVERT

Owner and Founder, Steep Creek Media

NO...