Yesterday, obviously, I was in no state to write a formal letter. I'm still probably not, but after lots of talking with some wonderful people, I'm feeling calmer. I still have a week or so to think on it before I exercise my inalienable right to the mighty power of the pen, so hopefully I'll be able to come up with something clear and firm, but not too brutal.
Because, as Mr. Right points out, this fundraiser is probably organized by parent volunteers who are trying to do a creative job of using a bunch of weird, unrelated donated stuff to raise needed money for the school. And isn't it great that they're focusing on (1) physical activity (this is a walkathon, remember) and (2) experiental rather than material prizes?
I just want to be clear, since I think I've gotten a lot more clear myself in the past 24 hours, as to what so thoroughly enraged me.
And for that, I think we'll have to have a little thought experiment. Indulge me, please?
Purchase or Prize?
What if the flyer that came home had listed exactly the same items, with exactly the same dollar figures, but it they were presented as items for "purchase" by the parents (the crazy high prices obviously in order to benefit the school) instead of as "prizes" to be "won" or "earned" by the students?
1. I would be irritated, probably very irritated, actually, but not speechless with fury (as long as the magic show party and the limo ride for ice cream were clearly going to occur after school or on the weekend, not during the school day... it generally reads like they're going to be during the school day right now, but it's not fully clear and I will be asking for clarification on that point)...
2. Except for the $25 "extra recess". That would seem extremely crass when posed as an item for parents of widely varying financial means to purchase for their children, who all have the same need for play. Yeah, I would spend a decent amount of time feeling pot-banging protest-chanting mad about that one.
Now, let's consider in what ways the thought experiment above differs from the reality of the actual fundraiser:
1. In the thought experiment, the kids are cast as passive recipients of gifts. In the actual fundraiser, the kids are cast as active earners of their prizes.
2. The actual fundraiser's wording gives more justification for the kids (or their parents, or the kids propped up by their parents) to ask friends and relatives for cash (strangers are off the table because the school says the kids should not be going door to door — there goes hypothetical poor kid's best chance to industriously beat the system). It sounds better to call grandma and say, "Will you sponsor me for my school walkathon fundraiser?" than to call grandma and say, "I want a limo ride to the ice cream store and mom says she won't pay for the whole thing. Would you chip in $50?"
Otherwise, precious little difference between the two scenarios. (Let me know if you think I'm missing something, please!)
And please let me be clear that I think it is an excellent thing for kids to actively earn stuff. And that I think it is a not great thing for kids to just be given stuff for no reason.
What I think is extremely damaging to ALL of the children involved is to pretend that something the child had very little to no control over is actually something they are solely responsible for and deserve to be lavishly rewarded for.
All the kids will be walking a mile the day of the walkathon, whether they collected no money or collected the most in the school. But some kids will find that the mile they walked was worth a free promotional bag from a multinational corporation and some kids will find that the mile they walked was worth the free bag, a special coveted pencil, extra recess, a magic show, and a limo ride for icecream. And all the kids will know which kids' miles were worth which things because all of it is couched as a reward that the ice-cream-eating, limo-riding, extra-recess-having kids deserve for doing such a good job. These are prizes. It's a little ridiculous to think of handing out prizes discretely, isn't it?
Furthermore, the structure of this fundraiser is actually depriving all the kids of feeling they've contributed to a cause greater than themselves. The prizes are the focus of the promotional material and the prizes will certainly be the focus of the children's minds. Few elementary-aged children can have much understanding of why their school would need money or how their walking a mile relates to filling that need. (Maybe because it doesn't.) But without the distraction of prizes and with an adult-led shift in focus to some sense of group effort, they certainly can feel proud of themselves for contributing to something worthwhile and exciting.
Alternatives
What if the icecream trip went to the classroom that collectively got the most donations?
What if donations were made contingent on a certain percentage of the kids finishing the whole mile walk?
What if prizes went to the fastest walking kid, the most exuberantly walking kid, the funniest walking kid...?
What if the school had an art contest for holiday cards or wrapping paper and sold packs of the winning designs?
What if, as a lovely friend remembers her school doing, the school as a whole worked towards a specific dollar goal, at which point someone got to smash a pie in the principal's face, or the principal had to kiss a pig, or spend the day on the roof of the school, or any other thing that the kids would think was insanely exciting and hilarious, would cost almost nothing, and would do no one any harm?