Advertising on School Grounds

February 11, 2008

To The School District Administration of Pinellas County,

Many of our schools in the Pinellas County have been struggling to outfit their schools with new equipment. New math textbooks, computers, or shoulder pads for football players have always been out of the question. With these new items come great expenses, which the school could not afford. Now I am writing to you to present a solution to our schools financial problems. If we allow companies, such as Pepsi, Apple, and Nike to advertise on school grounds, in return they could fund our equipment needs. I think this would be a great idea.

If we allowed a company to advertise in the school hallways about a new drink, students may buy the product. In return, the company could give a portion of the profits to the school to purchase new textbooks. For example, if Pepsi were granted permission to advertise their new drink, Mountain Dew Livewire, in school hallways, students may be interested in the product and therefore purchase it. A portion of the money earned from the purchases may be donated to the school by Pepsi to purchase new Algebra textbooks for the Math department. This does not put students or the school under “commercial pressure” as some may argue, but in fact directly benefits them. A new set of textbooks may cost around $1500, so the funding from companies, such as Pepsi, really helps schools with their financial problems.

In addition to providing funds for new textbooks, permitting advertising on school grounds may also result in companies donating new equipment to the school. Companies may donate computers to a school in return for advertisements of their product being displayed. For example, if a technology class decides to put up advertisements for the new Apple iPod Touch in the classrooms, Apple may decide to donate new iMac computers for the classroom for the students to use. This greatly benefits the school since the expenses for a new set of computers in a...