Corporate America is running our schools
             For years now, we have been subject to commercials at home and on the Internet. For the most part, we just ignore them. All of the commercials and advertisements are nothing more than a minor annoyance. We see them so often we don't really even notice them anymore. We see advertisements for McDonalds and Holiday Inn on billboards as we drive to work. Advertisements dominate our Sunday newspapers. There are even ads on the clothes we wear and in the movies, we watch.
             The amount of money companies spend on advertising is increasing at mind-boggling rates. In 1998, US advertising topped $200 billion, a 24% increase from the $161.5 billion spent in 1990, and an 89% increase from $105.97 billion in 1980 (The Center for a New American Dream). The future shows no sign of this changing anytime soon. The goal of big business is to get you hooked as soon as possible, the younger the better. If one company can acquire product loyalty, it could mean upwards of $100,000 per person (The Center for a New American Dream). Product loyalty seems to be a good incentive to get people loyal as soon as possible.
             Kids are no longer just an entree to their parents. Marketers of computers, hotels, banks, clothing, and groceries are approaching children as a consumer segment unto itself with more than $17 billion in its pocket and a whole lot of spending power in our children's future (Reese). Corporate America is doing its best to break in to the untapped gold mine found in our public schools. With so many different companies in America fighting over our schools, a few of them have attracted attention from agencies within our government. These concerns have been brought to the attention of our lawmakers:
             Despite the increasing concerns, little is known about the laws and policies that govern commercial activities and the nature of these activities in schools throughout the United Sta...