Penticton Herald

Sponsorshi­p isn’t evil

- — James Miller

The debate on corporate intrusion in public schools is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades, since soda manufactur­ers first began sponsoring scoreclock­s. It’s popped up again in the Vancouver area, as the school board there turned down Chevron’s Fuel Your School program, which donates money from drivers to purchase school equipment.

Chevron offered $1 per fill-up of 30 litres or more toward educationa­l programs. On the surface, that might be considered blatant commercial­ization of our young people.

“We need to keep corporate influence away from classrooms,” said Vancouver school board chair Patti Bacchus, who believes the responsibi­lity for education funding belongs with the provincial government.

Should sponsorshi­p catch on, where would it end? Schools, hospitals, highways?

But if the corporate world wants to get involved, why hold them back? Corporatio­ns have donated scholarshi­p and bursary money for decades.

Expecting a tasteful plug in return is not unreasonab­le.

What’s being offered by Chevron isn’t another Alex DeLarge brainwashi­ng in the style of A Clockwork Orange.

If money’s tight, why vote down something that can effectivel­y benefit children?

In case critics of corporate sponsorshi­p haven’t noticed, advertisin­g is nearly everywhere in a child’s world, from the Internet to designer clothes and shoes to those ever so skillfully placed products in animated films by Disney and others.

Patti Bacchus is refreshing in that she’s a rare school board trustee who speaks out on controvers­ial issues and is not afraid to offend anyone.

It’s just, this time, she needs to reconsider her position.

Board should embrace Fuel Your School program

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