Promotion…is certainly an appropriate topic at this time of the year. My mind jumps quickly from one application of the word to another. I am trying to get all the necessary forms and awards ready for our school promotions of students from one grade to the next. I also am trying to sort through all the “promotions” being sent to me daily (along with phone calls) to join fundraisers to help our school. I dismiss them as I always do with the answer, “We don’t do fundraisers…allowing our parents relief from the steady barrage of such activities at their door, at the local stores where they shop, and alongside the road as they travel through town.” When the promoter tries to press me more, I ask what is the “profit” they take in compared to the organization they are “helping.” This usually merits their response of “Well, thank you anyway.”
I also entertain the thought that only in America do we pay pretty significant money to watch entertainment which is filled with close to 30% promotion of various products and services to purchase. My students are shocked at the thought that their internet is filled with promotions designed to “sell to them.” Most of these elementary students argue that they don’t pay attention to the ad promotions. However, when they bring a new product to school and are asked where they found it, their first answer is “On the internet.”
Tomorrow will be a very telling day at school. I just read an article about the new “fidget gadgets” that consist of three spinning wheels in a hand-held plastic contraption. In the past three days, I have witnessed students buying these by the handfuls at the local one-stop shops. The article I read quoted many medical experts that found no evidence that these relieved stress or served medically significant purposes for Autistic and ADHD students. However, the article already pointed out the distractions caused in classrooms from these toys. This promotion has gone viral thanks to the internet! Does anyone besides me remember the “pet rocks?” That spread also, but at Model T-speed compared to the internet promotion of today. What does the future hold for all of us?
Finally, as I think of another “year’s end” of school approaching us this week, I am reminded that “the only constant in the universe is change itself,” so I need to recommit myself to “promoting” the desirable things this world needs: love, goodwill, citizenship, and peace. As the old poem goes, “I shall never pass this way again…” Am I making a difference for the better in the things I promote?
Kay