Read a Book, Have a Pizza

There is much noise nowadays about a program sponsored by Pizza Hut in which children get rewarded for reading, with a free pizza from the corporate giant. Some praise the program, others claim that promotes obesity and the wrong motivation for children to read more.
To me, this is just another example of the poor education system our children have to endure and nothing new in enticing young people to consume fast food. From the toys and gimmicks of McDonald’s, Burger King and others to the impossible contests of Coca Cola and Pepsi to win something hidden under a bottle cap, everyone involved in promotions and advertising for the young keeps on trying to attract a larger consumer base. The problem lies with the never-ending reforms and demands on teachers from so-called experts in education and also with the cozy relationship of book publishers and the education system.
My children are young adults now but I remember distinctly the agony of going to their schools and witnessing overloaded teachers, dedicating perhaps 15 minutes to the class and the rest of the hour to filling out forms and getting volumes of paperwork for the “thinkers” at higher level. Statistics and more statistics seemed to be the call. So, while kids were reading on their own in silence, the teacher became a paper pusher for the School District. If we ad to this the usually large number of kids in every class, it’s very clear that no matter how you cut it, that nobody can really dedicate more than one minute or two at best to every student. At the college level this works perhaps because adults are motivated enough to handle tasks on their own and the teacher is just a guide much like a conductor in a symphony orchestra. At the secondary level though this does not work as well, much less at grade level. Nevertheless, our youngsters are required to carry on their backs large volumes of books, which are open only on occasions and expected to perform some heavy-duty work at home to compensate for that which was not done at the proper place, the school itself. Besides, I wonder how schools expect kids to be motivated after riding a bus for sometimes and hour to get to the place of learning or worst yet, walking a mile or two with twenty pounds of weight on their backs and, once there, the teacher proceeds to give them a few guide lines on what to do, turning his or her back to write endless reports. What’s their motivation? No wonder pizza creates excitement in reading!
I remember, many moons ago, we didn’t have to get new books every year because they were passed on from student to student as they moved up, we managed to use a few pencils or ball pens per year and a couple of ruled notebooks and there were no computers. And somehow, it seems like earlier generations learned more than the present ones regardless of the lack of materials and technology available. What is going on today? School Districts are constantly reinventing themselves with new rules and regulations year after year. Schools without computers are the laughing stock of the community. Fewer students are graduating and those who do have a big surprise waiting when they get to colleges and universities because they lack the proper foundation to be there.
Kids are kids. Nothing has changed there. The problem is the overburdened system and the adults who are messing it up even more. So, why blame the corporate world, Pizza Hut in this case, for trying to make a buck in the name of education? If we had a decent education system there’ll be no need for enterprising marketers to come to the rescue.