Scholastic Corp. has recently come under fire for using its "vast, venerable network of school-based book clubs to market toys and other non-educational items such as video games and lipgloss." The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which is a national coalition of educators, health care professionals, and parents have launched a protest against Scholastic for marketing items other than books in their book club flyers.
As a teacher, I regularly handed out Scholastic book orders and enjoyed assisting students in selecting books they might like and ordering to add to my own classroom collection. Back in my day, (yes, I'm that old;)there weren't a lot of non-book items included in the order forms. As a parent of a 6th grader, I have seen the orders become more and more commercial with items like necklaces, erasers, and make your own doorbell kits. It's especially frustrating when books are packaged with such items. Kids may or may not be interested in the book, but if it come with a "prize," they might be more likely to purchase it-or ask parents to make the purchase. What do you think? Go to http://www.scholastic.com/ to look at book club selections.
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