Webcurrents ... Today's Column ... Archive Index "What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." - George Bernard Shaw Friday, Oct. 3, 1997 Dangling the Wrong Carrot Fresh from a fervent assembly designed to pump up the sales force, my 10-year-old son got in the car after school and declared his new goal in life, to be Top Seller. The school lured him in with offers of a limo ride, untold recognition, and prizes well beyond what an average family could afford even at Christmas time. This when only the day before and for months earlier his sights had been set like many young boys on someday becoming a professional baseball player or joining the pro golf tour. He was shocked when I replied in my most mom-sounding voice, "I'm glad you're inspired, but forget it. Being Top Seller takes time you don't have, time I'd rather you spent on your school work or outside just playing." He looked astonished. This was not what the other authority figures in his life had been telling him all day. Though he probably didn't think of it this way, it was clear he felt confused that Mom wasn't towing the party line. It was an uncomfortable moment. I laid out my feelings: "I don't like school fund raisers. We pay our taxes. Our schools should already provide the things they say they will buy with the money that's raised. I don't think it's right to send our kids out to sell overpriced chocolates and gift wrap so they can have essentials like computers in the classroom and playground equipment. If the parents want to raise money, fine. But they should leave the kids out of it." I don't like deflating the sails of a young mind inspired, but when was the last time our school had an assembly to pump up the kids for learning? Not once can I recall such an effort. Later that week, I read at CNN's web site a news story about another boy working to be Top Seller at his school in New Jersey. He knocked on the wrong door in a "very safe" neighborhood and was raped and murdered. He was 11. They arrested a 15-year-old boy in the case day before yesterday. Neither the PTA nor the Association of Direct Sellers and Fund Raisers endorses door-to-door sales, the CNN report said, but how else can one expect to become Top Seller and earn The Prize? Don't they realize they've dangled golden carrots? Worse, don't they see how merrily, how easily a young mind takes in the excitement and wants to belong? Fortunately, for me, my son soon came around to understanding my point of view. He's much more enthralled at the moment with his father's boyhood microscope and a new science kit. But as usual, I will spend at least $50 per child to buy some overpriced things I don't really want. One year I just wrote the school a check to support the fund raiser, but my son was left out of the in-school honors accorded Those Who Sold. It wasn't worth it. What a waste that our school doesn't dangle the real prize before them, the lifelong prize that comes from a mind enriched. Today's links:
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