McDonald's: Advertisements on School Report Cards

This is pretty disturbing to say the least. I thought that the food IN schools was bad enough.

Are our schools this hard-up for funds that they need to resort to advertising on report cards? Further, are they so hard-up for cash that they need to allow McDonald's to advertise to kids?

Do we not have enough advertising cluttering up our already cluttered lives?

The SCHOOLS should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this.

So this is bad but pizza hut's bookit is fine? Read up on it. http://www.bookitprogram.com/ a lot of schools do this too. Should they be ashamed of themselves too? HOW DARE YOU HAVE INCENTIVES FOR CHILDREN TO GET GOOD GRADES!

Fast food should only be a treat every once and a while.

Who buys the food for the kids? If you don't let your kid eat fast food unless he/she gets a good report card, what is the big deal?

Oh yeah you think this report card is the reason you are fat. Just like how you believe santa is another reason you are fat.

One meal won't make you fat, get over it.

I agree – Pizza Hut’s thing is probably just as bad. Yes, I do think the schools should be ashamed of themselves, for this and for serving junk food in the vending machines and cafeterias.

Do you think it’s a good thing that McDonald’s is advertising in kid’s report cards?

Are you saying that McDonald’s is the incentive that you want your kids to have to do well in school?

I agree - having fast food as a treat once in while is not bad thing. But, McDonald's business (and their advertising) is not set up to simply serve as an occasional treat.

Why should there be restrictions on how alcohol companies and tobacco companies advertise and not apply similar restrictions to food companies? Are people not addicted to food?

I’m not blaming the report card for making anyone fat, I never said that. And, I never said that one meal will make anyone fat, so nothing to get over.

Thanks for the counterpoint though.

It's only junk food if you eat it every day. Nothing wrong with an occasional Happy Meal for a kid.
Some people need to visit the planet "Get A Life".

It's weird to see advertising on report cards. IF the schools are getting $$$ then I have no problem with it.

In the real world though, my parents only looked at the grades. I'm sure it will be no different.

No... it's always junk food. No matter how often you eat it, it's junk, it offers practically nothing in nutritionally value, and is very calorie dense. Even recovering anorexics are encouraged to eat healthy food with lots of calories, they aren't just given free coupons for MickyD's.

It's like saying stealing isn't a crime if you don't do it often.

Another thing I forgot to mention;

Why is food any sort of reward, bad food at that? Way to pave the road for a COED.

Here's a question: What if it was a coupon for a free sundae at a local ice cream parlour? That's clearly a treat, not an everyday food and not necessarily condoning junk food as a meal option, however a sundae is pure sugar and fat and not at all healthy.
Would that be better or worse?

What if it was a coupon for 50% off a videogame at WalMart or a free movie rental at Blockbuster? Videogames and sedentary activities like watching movies aren't healthy habits either.
Would it be as bad?

Is the problem that children are getting a coupon for "junk food" or is it a specific hatred for McD's that upsets people here?
Is it bad to reward children with something they like but isn't good for them, or is it bad that a big, evil corporation is marketing to children?

My whole point is that it's bad to reward children with something that is bad for them, or don't parents still believe in the motto 'You don't always get what you want'?

Free sundae = food for good behaviour = improper conditioning.

Videogames and videos aren't as bad, as long as their parents (and this thing is going on in kindergarten through 5th grade, we're not about adults here) make sure they don't spend too long (30 minutes to an hour a day, or the length of the movie), and don't mindlessly munch on bad food or really any food at all while they're playing/watching. Eating should be a healthy and mindful thing.

McDonalds (and happy meals) is by and by junk food. The salads aren't even as nutritious as they could be, and often people don't know better than to spoil them with buckets of dressing. The same applies to most 'fast food' corporations, if not all.

It's wrong thinking to condition children to expect food rewards. They may well grow up with that habit later on in life. The blessed will have a fast metabolism, the less fortunate will be overweight or even obese.

And guess what? In adulthood, thanks to their conditioning, 30 minutes on a treadmill turns into munching on a few slices of Domino's pizza because they 'earned their treat'. It's a bad habit to start and a hard one to get out of. Period.

Hopefully there are still parents out there that think raising a child is more than sending them to school, it's also teaching good behaviour and healthy habits to ensure a long and active life.

Linds said:
The salads aren't even as nutritious as they could be, and often people don't know better than to spoil them with buckets of dressing. [...]

Spoil them with buckets of dressing?.....hey, pass the bucket-o-full-fat-dressing for my salad, thank you very much! Yum!

Oh, and on topic - I don't blame McD's....shame on the school district; they're the ones who entered the contract and who hand out the report cards with the advertising.

I think your getting off on a tangent here.

Yeah McDonalds is doing it for advertising and hoping to gain business, but when I saw this on the local news recently, they talked with a member from either the Board of Education or superintendents office. Her side was the immense cost of printing and purchasing envelopes etc ...

Everything is getting ridiculously expensive. Unless they raise eveyone's taxes more and more, how can they provide all the materials and keep up with technology etc... Too many school districts are going without too many things already.Having public corporations advertise on school buses, report card envelops is just one more way to help add to the coffers that provide materials and equipment for our kids. It helps to bring some more money into the district.

I disagree that it's "conditioning". It's a treat for achieving something.. Parents are perfectly capable of teaching their children in every day life that food isn't always a reward. It's no different than "treating yourself" to a piece of cake once in a while.

I hate McD's food btw, but going to McD's and getting to play in the playland is fun for my kids, *once in a while*. And at least they offer apples instead of fries with a happy meal and my kids almost always choose the apples.

not surprised at all. I noticed a few months ago that Burger had a sign in their store say something very similar "Get an A and get a free Kids Meal"

SCal said:
So this is bad but pizza hut's bookit is fine? Read up on it. http://www.bookitprogram.com/ a lot of schools do this too. Should they be ashamed of themselves too? HOW DARE YOU HAVE INCENTIVES FOR CHILDREN TO GET GOOD GRADES![...]

Ok, I am sorry- but I am 23 years old.. and remember when I had the book-it incentive... I WAS HIGHLY motivated! Are you kidding me, a night out for pizza with my family!.. THere is no way I wasn't going to read my 5 books that month to get my free pizza! It is a wonderful Idea. (I am very very healthy and physically fit- not obese as a result!)

I am now a 4th grade teacher, and see how incredibly motivating this, and other rewards can be for students! I see nothing wrong with it.. and in fact incourage it. Motivation-- everyone likes a reward now and then,.. don't you! This allows for teachable moments for our kids.. to teach health and nutrition. It is not the innocent kids' fault that they are obese.. they had no say-- it is all environmental! If they don't know the facts, and are not taught...

Has anyone seen the documentary of supersized? Well i have and two of my family members have died of liver failure and some of it was accredited to fast food. i Dont agree with anyone eating fast food but millions do it every day. I mean sure i love a wopper every now and again but it all goes to will power and moderation. but to be advertising to children is rideciouls. Obesity is going to be the number one killer of humans very soon if its not now. And these fast food resturants are saying oohhh we have low fat low fat....that is just bull. The only thing i do know is that junk food is way cheaper than healthy food is. A hershey bar at wal-mart is .48 cents, a chicken sandwich at Mcdonalds is a buck but to make a healthy salad cost about twenty dollars if not more. So my point is that it is easier and cheaper to eat junk then healthy. How messed up is that. We all need to step up and say something to our stores and such to make healthy cheaper especially if you have children before you are buy that cheeseburger and watch them gain 100 pounds get diabetes and liver failure from junk. If you have not seen the documentary supersized please do. It is very sad to see that we as a nation are doing tis to ourselves every day and our kids. They showed pictures of god and presedents and ronald mcdonald and most of the kids couldnt even idetify god but every single one of them knew who ronald mcdonald was sad sad sad.

jenny said:
most of the kids couldnt even idetify god [...]

Umm...
God?
Sorry, off topic, I know, but are you saying YOU know what "god" looks like?

If I recall correctly, the picture you're referring to was an artist's rendering of the traditional interpretation of what Jesus looked like. Why would a non-religious child or even simply a non-Christian child be expected to know who a generic picture of a guy with long hair and a beard is supposed to be?

Sorry, again for going off topic, but it's just one of my pet peeves when someone assumes that all other readers share their religion, race, or nationality.

-End of rant-

Learning should be its own reward. This whole process taints education and stunts the natural, curious, young mind.

I remember local businesses-- including the local Chik Fil A and Dairy Queen and Subway-- offering free things for all A's 00 and that didn't bother me... I thought it was nice actually.

But it wasn't printed on the report card.

TACKY. That school should be ASHAMED.

I just wanted to say.. that I am 23 years old, and remember when I was highly motivated by the Book-it reading program! And guess what, I am not obese becuase of it! I turned out ok.. even smarter, because of the high motivation to read!
I am now a 4th grade teacher.. and see how GREATLY motivated these type of rewards are for our kids! There is no way that you should say "The schools should be ashamed of themselves.." absolutely not!-- They are trying to motivate the kids to read.. and it is working!!! Maybe this is a teachable moment to teach health, and nutrition. Becuase, I am sorry but one happy meal per report card.. is NOT BAD!!! It is a great motivation!!

I hope the school is at least getting some heavy monetary kickbacks for putting it on report cards! I guess to look at on the positive, happy meals are having "healthier" options these days. Somebody mentioned the need to pay for the report card envelopes, some schools are going electronic where parents can check their kids' grades online (I know, I know, not always feasible for some parents who are having a hard time making ends meet). In the long wrong run, this reduces costs.

On another note: Big companies, such as Kellogg, have been phasing out advertising to children under the age of 12. Part of this is due to a lawsuit they were faced with in 2005. I'm not sure if McDonalds is one of the big companies to do this, but I suppose they are just trying to find new ways to advertise to the child!

Where I grew up, we had even local businessed get in on the deal: "Get a free sundae if your report card has all A's and B's!"

I agree with Vesna. Research shows that when you give external rewards (like Happy Meals, money, etc.), you remove intrinsic motivation (i.e., the desire to do well or read or whatever for the sake of it or its own enjoyment, not for some external reward). I used to whine to my parents that other kids got paid for good grades (since mine were always good, I thought it would be easy money!) and my parents said you don't get paid for doing what is expected of you (meaning trying your best at school, not necessarily a certain GPA).

I ate a lot of pizzas because of Bookit, but I honestly would have read the books anyway because I was already a bookish kid. What irks me is not so much the reward aspect of the McDonald's incentive plan, but the fact that it's basically advertising on to children report cards. Let the school send a Happy Meal coupon home to the parents of high achievers so the parents can decide whether to treat the kids. This is just one way for McDonald's to ensure that children are saying, "Mom, look at my reward. Can we go to McDonald's? Pleeeaaase?"

first off, I went to that elementary school in the 80's. Word.

second, my kids go to school in this county.

third, they get mcdonalds once or twice a month. they always choose the apple dippers, 1% milk. A hamburger for my daughter as well. Under 400 calories, with 20g of protein is cool with me. Especially on Tuesday cheap happy meal night.

I tell them that I don't eat McDonalds because I think it's poison.

I don't believe it's bad to reward kids for doing well. That's how life is, you do good things you get rewarded. With a raise, better perks, a nice home.

So what the kid can have a free happy meal for doing well? As long as the kids doesn't eat McDonald or that kind of stuff everyday it's fine with me.

However I don't think putting it on the report card is right. The only thing that should be on there are grades and behavior reports.

Vesna said:
Learning should be its own reward. This whole process taints education and stunts the natural, curious, young mind. [...]

HAHA, kids don't want to learn for learnings sake. They want to know how long until summer vacation, recess and lunch is.

My personal experience with this took place in a town without a Pizza Hut. Or any corporate restaurants at all. Think "Mayberry".

I definitely read more books as a result of BookIt, so that my parents would take me to Pizza Hut.

It was my favorite restaurant as a kid, and being able to go into the bigger town, and to eat pizza and play Super Mario Bros. was the highlight of my life.

And yes, I was a lard ass. But I also did read a lot more books as a result. So I suppose my experience was half and half, like most all things are.

oh wtf?? that's so messed up. i suppose i should never expect that there is line mcd's wont cross. they have no sense of boudaries at all! they disgust me so much.

psychsarah said:
I used to whine to my parents that other kids got paid for good grades (since mine were always good, I thought it would be easy money!) and my parents said you don't get paid for doing what is expected of you (meaning trying your best at school, not necessarily a certain GPA). [...]

Do you give back your paycheck each week - you get that for doing what's expected, don't you? (don't know if you work or not, just more a rhetorical question, really)

Regina; I presume her parents were already giving her free room, food, and board. Not a lot of companies do that.

It is unfortunate that schools are placed in such an untenable situation. Is anyone familiar with the quote, "It'll be a great day when schools have all the $ they need, and the Pentagon has to get its budget approved by voters!" There are different versions of this, but it's an important concept. In the last fiscal year, the Pentagon spent $463 billion (not including the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor most homeland security programs) while schools spent $38 billion. It's clear that education and many other social programs wouldn't have to sell themselves out if we were truly able to re-analyze our priorities as taxpaying citizens.

I totally remember Book It and the pizza thing totally motivated me, but I think my main motivation was reading more books than this snotty girl in my class, lol. The pizza was just icing on the cake. We didn't go out a lot for dinner, so having the Book It coupons were kind of a nice treat for everyone. I liked being able to have my own pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms because otherwise I never got to pick the pizza toppings.

But I do agree that it's not a good idea to motivate kids that aren't motivated with food, video games, money, etc. When I was a kid, my sis was not the academic type and she struggled with school and keeping good grades. My parents bribed her with money to get good grades and it didn't exactly work. She really struggled with reading and stuff and although she really WANTED the money, she just couldn't do it. Plus, it always pissed me off because my parents pretty much expected straight As from me with no reward given. So yeah...rewarding kids for good grades with food/money/etc. is probably not a good idea.

Oh no, that's just making me feel sick... on the report card! how is this stuff allowed to happen!? I just can't believe it :(

SCal said:
HAHA, kids don't want to learn for learnings sake. They want to know how long until summer vacation, recess and lunch is.

Thank you for painting us all with a broad brush, because some of us actually did enjoy learning in grade and high school, and now in university. I was actually incredibly bored over summer vacation and I was always eager for school to begin again.

psychsarah said:
I used to whine to my parents that other kids got paid for good grades (since mine were always good, I thought it would be easy money!) and my parents said you don't get paid for doing what is expected of you (meaning trying your best at school, not necessarily a certain GPA).

Same here, though I don't know if I ever asked to be paid for my grades. Some of us tried to do well because we wanted to do well, not so that we could get free pizza or a free Happy Meal. If those were offered, at least for me, those were just something extra. Doing well was something I shot for just to do well.

The only time I can remember being awarded food for performance was at camp as a child. If our cabin was judged the cleanest for the week, we got to go to the A&W Root Beer for a Root Beer float! I still love A&W Root Beer, only now I have the "diet" version! Don't keep the house too clean though :-(

Linds said:
Regina; I presume her parents were already giving her free room, food, and board. Not a lot of companies do that.[...]

Parents have that responsibility....but note, I don't think the school is doing the right thing with this - as I said I don't necessarily blame McD's here, but the school since they had a choice to enter the contract or not.

That said, I'm not against the idea of including incentives with kids - but think we parents need to be careful what we choose as the "incentive" (I don't like the idea of using food personally).....IMO it's just the opposite of consequences we design to help children learn to do the right thing, like taking away a privilege or something they like.

i think the issue here is that whilst we could discuss for hours whether food is a suitable incentive for children, and whether junk food is bad for u if it is only an occasional treat, the decision to feed ur children this food in any particular situation is the parents responsibility ALONE. Why the feck is Mc Donalds ever telling parents what to feed their kids?

aside from that - its a report card for gods sake. its purpose is to communicate a childs progress to their parents/guardian, so this comment is unnecessary and arbitrary.

I'm with the "get over it" camp on this one. When I was little, I was rewarded with a special treat for good grades? Who in the heck doesn't reward themselves with a special treat (e.g.: birthday / wedding / every other type of cake) or a special meal on occasion.

McDonald's food is yuck, but like pretty much most things in life, in moderation it isn't that big of a deal.

Parents should PARENT their children.. teach them about nutrition, exercise, and moderation.

I haven't eaten at McDonalds in YEARS... but the ONLY reason people go ballistic over this kind of thing is becuase of that dang movie Supersize Me or whatever it was called. If this was for a free ice cream sundae from Dairy Queen, would anyone care? No... people would think it was nice of the company! People complain "oh the children" or " made me fat".

It's extremely simple:
1. Education
2. Self Control / Moderation

Lastly... in my opinion, it really isn't all that tacky of the school. In a general sense, the state of the public schooling system is sad and ridiculously underfunded.NO i am not inviting pointless slippery slope discussion, don't waist your typey fingers. Maybe this cost savings afforded the school another computer, set of jump ropes for gym, metal detector :-(, or blah blah yada yada.

So there ya go... theres me 3 cents, that no one asked for, and that contributed no unique points to the conversation

I used to be a middle school teacher and can attest to the ridiculous underfunding of some of the most basic programs. I think this school could've been more selective with their choice of sponsor, but I don't disagree with the general concept.

Regina said:
Do you give back your paycheck each week - you get that for doing what's expected, don't you? (don't know if you work or not, just more a rhetorical question, really) [...]

A business relationship between employer and employee is appropriate. Between parents and children, I don't think so. That's a response to Linda's comment right under Regina's, also. "Free room and board" is not really the most accurate way of describing the shelter and sustenance a parent provides their young children.

What?I thought the objective was to STOP eating junk food!I mean come on teachers award us an apple or some low fat fat yogurt!Kids,I'm not saying stop making good grades but when your teacher awards this "Happy Meal" cupon toss it!

Thats horrible! i feel fat enough. i am 5'5" and i weigh 122 lbs! i wanna weigh 115. or 110. am i overweight?