From the New York Times:
President Obama’s plan abercrombie and fitch to deliver a speech to public school students on Tuesday has set off a revolt among conservative parents, who have accused the president of trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas and are asking school officials to excuse the children from listening.
“The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child,” said Brett Curtis, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home.
“I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement.”
Obviously, the whole “argument” over whether Obama’s speech to students on Tuesday will be rife with socialist rhetoric is now completely debunked. The White House released the full speech today, and it’s far from a call to arms for some kind of child-led socialist revolution. Rather, Obama encourages kids to try their best, no abercrombie and fitch matter their economical, geographical, or physical circumstances. So, that’s that. Easiest blog ever.
Oh wait! There’s something else.
The idea of messages being beamed into classrooms across the country is a scary one. Who wants children to be exposed to messages over which parents and teachers have little control? Nobody. Right?
At the risk of being labeled a socialist myself, I’ll bet that Channel One – the nationwide, 12-minute teen “news” program shown in some US schools, and subject of much scrutiny over the years – would be enough to combat any “socialist” speech from the President. The channel’s “news” is often product-related and many of its special segments are sponsored by corporations (like AT&T) or, as in the case of Glory Road, the US Army.
As Naomi Klein wrote in 2000’s No Logo:
Channel One, meanwhile, charges advertisers top dollar for accessing its pipeline to classrooms… because, with mandatory attendance and no channel-changing or volume control, it can boast something no other broadcaster can: “No audience erosion.”
The channel also offers teachers complimentary discussion topics for their classes that revolve around that day’s program. The September 3rd program, for example, (script available to download here) features a report on the decline of Abercrombie & Fitch sales during the current recession. Reporter Steven Fabian informs students that A&F had considered lowering prices, but were worried that it would affect the perceived quality of the label. It’s all very serious “business” news, of course. And the related questions for teachers to discuss with students? Just as serious:
* Why has abercrombie and fitch decided against lowering its prices?
* What impact has the recession had on Abercrombie and Fitch?
* Why is Abercrombie considering a change in strategy?
OMG, I dunno, yo! But totes going to abercrombie and fitch during spare!
The impact of product placement in schools has been the topic of endless debate, but it seems even more fitting to discuss it now, when everyone’s panicking over how Obama’s message will affect the political leanings of six-year-olds. If parents are really going to put any serious thought into what kind of messages their children are privy to a school, maybe they should start at the Coke machine.
But just so we leave on a completely twisted note, abercrombie and fitch I’ll say one more thing about Channel One:
The other day on his show, Glenn Beck went on a nine-minute diatribe about “socialist” and “fascist” artwork at Rockefeller Center in New York City – the home, he was eager to point out, of his most hated rival network, NBC.
