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Guest: Josh Golin, Program Manager with Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood

Massachusetts’ Public Health Committee recently recommended for approval a bill that would restrict corporate advertising on school grounds. If passed, the “Act Relative to the Public Health Impact of Commercialism in Schools,” would be at the legislative forefront of a growing movement nationwide. In addition to banning advertising in schools, the bill would also bar companies from giving promotional items that aren’t their primary products but do feature their logo or brand name. Activists who seek to protect children, particularly in schools, from aggressive advertising hope that passage of the Massachusetts bill will encourage other states to follow suit. Marketing to children has become an extremely profitable venture for corporations. An estimated seventeen billion is spent annually as children are exposed to 30,000 television advertisements alone. A recent online poll has found that there is an overwhelming majority of people who support making public schools commercial free.

For more information, visit www.commercialfreechildhood.org.