Thursday, November 17, 2011

You know what I hate?

School fundraisers.
Ok, thats not entirely true. I think that the idea behind them is great. Earn money for your school. But there is a huge flaw in the way that these things are executed.
Fundraisers used to be bake sales and car washes. Concessions at football games or high school band members selling cookie dough. Then came the gift wrap. Catalogs full of gift wrap and candy, passed out to middle school kids who were told to sell to everyone they could corner. But they're not going to do it without bribery. Errr.... encouragement? So a parade of "prizes" is flashed before their eyes; from cheap, dollar store quality frisbees, to flat screen tv's! Yes, children, you can have

Your very own flat screen television if you just sell 1,000 items at $20 each. Piece of cake for a 13 year old, right?
At least by middle school the kids are somewhat self-sufficient, they can go out and do the selling themselves, and they also have more of an understanding of the improbability of getting the top prize.
But the problems is that these ridiculous competitions are not only reserved for teenagers. No, the majority of elementary schools now host catalog fundraisers. Waving shiny toys in front of 7 year olds and saying "You can HAVE this! I
f you sell lots of things, that is." Or rather, if your parents have the time to sell things for you. And your family and friends have the money to buy the overly priced garbage. If not? Sorry, kid. The expectations put on elementary ages kids is ridiculous. I know that a portion of the money goes to the school and im all for that. I worked at an elementary school where we got 10 new computers for our computer lab through fundraisers! Thats GREAT! I saw all of the kids benefit from that. But I also saw many children crying because they didnt get the prize they wanted, or werent able to sell anything at all. Parents dont always have the time to help, and many times dont have the money, as much as they would like to. I support tangible fundraisers. BoxTops and Cambells Soup labels are great, easy ways to earn money for school. But dont make the kids compete at such a young age whe
n they arent even in control of their own selling abilities.
What started me on this tangent today?

This is my nephew. He's pretty much the coolest kid ever. He was born 2 days after my birthday, and is the best present i've ever gotten. I love him. Im insanely protective of him.
His mom asked me today if I liked Scentsy. It seems that Kayden's PRESCHOOL is doing a fundraiser selling Scentsy products. Only the top three sellers will get prizes (A Scentsy Buddy stuffed animal), and the teacher is allowing her own children to compete. These are 3-5 year olds! What is WRONG with people!? A part of me wants to buy every damn thing out of the catalog so he wins by a landslide. Another part of me wants to punch the teacher in the face. Mostly I just want to buy him one of the stuffed toys and tell him to just do his best, and that fundraisers are really meant for older kids. Ugh.

1 comment:

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