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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1987, PAGE 7 PAGE SEVEN ALL FOR A COMDBAD CAUSE A lot of cute little ceramic bells in the shape of animals will be hanging from Christmas trees this year because a small army of the best sales people around - our kids - have been mobilized to break down our usually solid sales resistance to such trifles. I am referring, of course, to the Christmas tree ornaments sold through many schools in the last month to raise money for school projects. The stuff that gets sold this way, whether its chocolates or window ornaments or thermometers is ridiculously overpriced and the only reason we buy it is because it's our sons, daughters, neices, nephews or neighbours and we're told that, of course, its for a good cause. The financial pressures that force our schools into this form of fundraising activities have spawned a small branch of the sales industry which reaps large profits on cheap imported goods. The ornaments hanging on your tree were made in Taiwan by some poor exploited peasant employed in a sweatshop who at most was paid a few cents. The sweatshop owner added his profit and then exported them by the boatload to the affluent N. American market. Importers in this country hired sales professionals who, armed with slick glitzy brochures, mobilized the most effective sales force anywhere - who can resist the sales pitch of a nine or ten year old - who else could sell you fifty cents worth of chocolate for two dollars and make you feel good about it at the same time. Finding new and effective ways to raise money is always a problem but the ethics of this kind of exploitation bothers me. If the wholesalers who sell this stuff to the schools were doing it for purely altruistic reason, I would have no complaint but in fact they are making more money selling their stuff this way than they would through retail stores - they have discovered that parents want the privilege of paying inflated prices for stuff they don't need in the false belief that most of the money is going to the school. In short they exploit our school system and our kids. A captive market that used to be the exclusive preserve of chocolate companies is now wide open. A couple of years ago, a large expensive ad appeared in the business section of the Globe and Mail: Largest manufacturer of plush toys requires self-motivated sales representative for our natioral fund-raising division. Your clientele will be primarily schools and sports organizations. They might have, added that the profits and commissions are large and the sales are easy. And where else can you expect to sell goods sight unseen. A few years ago we bought a thermometer through a relative - it was broken - we threw it out - returns are rare and the distributors know it. I had some first hand experience with this market a few years ago when I was President of the local historical society. With the help of a cooperative education student at Henry Street High School and General Printers in Oshawa, I had assembled a calendar of historic photographs from the Whitby archives. With this professionally produced product I approached a number of local schools to suggest they use it for their own fund-raising purposes. The lack of interest was overwhelmirig. "Could I offer the fancy full-color brochures, the incentives and prizes." There was no way that I, working as a volunteer on my own time, could compete. Nor did I have the huge sales margin to finance the incentives. I was frankly surprised at the extent to which school principals had become conditioned to the glitzy campaigns that accompany cheap imported goods. When offered a good locally-produced product (which as an added bonus had some educational value) which was priced competitively with good value to the consumer, they were not interested. The only school that took more than a token interest was Henry High, primarily because the calendar had been produced as part of their co-op education program. I produced a similar calendar for two more years, the last one for the Ontario Historical Society for distribution throughout Ontario. For that one, I wrote an article similar to this one for the OSSTF Forum, a journal for secondary school teachers. They never acknowledged it, let alone publish it. Our educational system, since the late sixties has de-emphsized academic competition - A's, B's and C's have disappeared and ranking is discouraged, yet students are urged to compete for bicycles and whatever else by selling more than their schoolmates. The students with the highest sales are almost inevitably the ones with the most relatives and/or the pushiest parents. The cycle of exploitation may begin with private commercial interests but is aided and abetted by principals, teachers and parents. Selling trash at inflated prices is hardly the kind of educational experience I expect my kids to have. Through aill of this the Board of Education remains aloof. They are, at least in part, a source of the problem in that they refuse to fund the "extras" or "frills" such as school trips and special supplies. At the very least they could offer some. guidelines as ta what fund-raising activities are appropriate. They could use their clout ta ensure that those commercial enterprises who are allowed ta exploit this market are at least returning the bulk of the profits ta the schools. Clearly some direction is required. At the very least, aur school boards should discourage cheap imported goods and should clearly indicate a preference for local and/or educational products. li - TOBAGGANING PARTY AT ONTARIO LADIES' COLLEGE, 1893 Tobogganing was a popular sport in the 1890s and a toboggan slide (at right) was built for the students of the Ontario Ladies' College (now Trafalgar Castle School). This picture shows the principal's residence as a separate building to the right of the main College building, before the two structures were joined by Frances Hall in 1895. The original Trafalgar Castle was-built in 1859-62 as the residence of nelson Gilbert Reynolds, Sheriff of Ontario County, who sold it to the Methodist Church for use as a ladies' College 12 years later. Whitby Archives Photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, December 14, 1977 editi- . he WHITBY FREE PRESS Recipients of Queen Elizabeth Silver Jubilee Medals are: Florence Heard, the late Leslie McFarlane, Professor Donald Creighton, John Forst, William manning and Charles Skelton. • Mr. and Mrs. Albert Timms of Myrtle Station recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. . Norm Schell, with 23 years of service, and Matt Agar with 38 years of service have retired from the Brooklin Hall of the Whitby Fire Department. • Rivett Architectural hardware opened its new plant on Industrial Drive. 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, December 13, 1962 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • The Town and Township of Whitby have formed a committee to discuss extension of town water to the Dundas Street-Thickson Road area in the township. A book of Poetry, "Branches of the Muse," features work of Whitby residents, Russell Bell, Lloyd Meader and Barbara Janstrom. • Mel-Ron Construction Company has sold two parcels of land for industrial development on Hopkins Street, and will construct its head office and yard there. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, December 16, 1887 edition of the WHITBY CHRONICLE • The pipe organ at the Brooklin Methodist Church has been removed from the gallery and placed on a platform behind the pulpit. • Detectives from Toronto shot a Port Perry man, George Brown, in a dispute over illegal sale of liquor, at Myrtle Station on Dec. 14. " St. John's and Ai Saints' Anglican Churches are feuding over money given to St. John's Church to repair the steeple. All Saints' charges that it was misused to purchase addîtional cemetery land. . Famous Canadian evangelists Crossley and Hunter will preach at the Whitby Methodist and Presbyterian Churches on Dec. 18. ID 1 t 1 il