Irresponsible advertising/proprietorship or irresponsible consumerism

I saw the most infuriating commercial today. Well maybe not the most, but as a former substitute teacher, a future full time teacher, and all the time mom, this really (to steal a phrase from my friend Beth) chapped my ass!
It was commercial for Walmart, which was probably the first problem and I should have known I was being led down a slippery slope. In the commercial, a little boy (late elementary, early middle school age) bounds out of bed and grabs his essentials for the first day of school: a PSP, an iPod, and a cell phone. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where to even begin with the problems in that school supply list! All the mom can say is, " he probably has his PSP, his phone, and his iPod. I just hope he has his calculator."
Let me first articulate my problems from the view of a parent and teacher, then I will tackle the problem from the general consumer viewpoint.
As a parent, I understand the concept of children having cell phones. We want to keep in touch with our children and be sure that they have a means to contact us in case of need or emergency. I was given a cell phone when I was in high school because I started driving. I was, however, told that it was for emergencies only. It was back in the day when there was nothing sexy about the over sized device; though I was still in the minority to have one. When my fingers got a little dialing crazy, I was in no uncertain terms chewed a new one by my mom. She very clearly explained that it was not meant for me to gab on but to be kept as a safety device. Point taken. These days, I think parents allow way too many minutes and text messages on their children's plans. And are way too accommodating when their children run up bills for overages.
As a former substitute teacher, I often had quite the collection of models by the end of the day. Students frequently forgot to turn off their ringers or tried to sneak in the text here or there. It's disruptive, rude, annoying, ingratiating, immature-shall I go on? I think not, you get the idea. A school, as last I checked, is still a place of learning. Social development is important (I've done my school work on cooperative learning groups, so I don't need reminding that kids have to learn social skills somewhere ) but leave your chit chat for lunch, passing time, and for the few schools that have it, recess.
Speak when spoken to in my class! And you'd best not be spoken to on the phone!

As a consumer, I think that it's reprehensible that Walmart endorse such a campaign. And while it's catchy (and obviously currently applicable), it's validating inappropriate behavior by the advertising firm. Encouraging children to take inappropriate, likely inadmissible, distracting, and costly technology to school is only setting the kids up for a) disappointment if in real life their parents have enough common sense to not send them with at least the iPod or PSP and b) suspension, detention, or confiscation of their device.

America may be the wealthiest country, it may have the most diverse university system, it may have the most career opportunities, but America is still struggling to be the most competitive country in the area of primary and secondary education. In various areas we lag significantly behind the Japanese, the British, the Germans, and the Scandinavians. We have such programs as No Child Left Behind in order to try to standardize our educational system and to make sure that every child receives at least a basic education. Rather than worrying solely about whether students can pass a standardized test, thereby ensuring continuing funding, maybe schools should worry a little more about their students being able to pay enough attention to learn anything in the first place! How about standardizing some rules about what can and can't be brought to school?

In conclusion, I think the triad of permissive parents (irresponsible consumerism) as well as the irresponsible marketing by the ad firm and the client (Walmart) create a situation that leaves children confused, frustrated, and susceptible to added peer pressure and unnecessarily creates situations where children face disciplinary action at school.

Just nip it in the bud---market the devices as recreation not educational. And if you do buy it for your kids, lay the ground work for rules and check your kid's backpacks!

I shall now do a swan dive as I dismount off my soapbox.