Many parents try hard to protect their kids from TV and Internet advertising. But how can you protect a child from a large fast-food ad painted on her school locker  ? Or a toy ad on the side of his school bus? As school budgets get smaller, a growing number of schools in the US are selling, advertising space on lockers and buses and in gyms or cafeterias. It is an easy way for schools to make money. And ads may provide relief for parents exhausted by making cash donations to support schools. While parents can always turn off the televisions or the computers, they can't keep advertising out of schools. This isn't the first time the issue has come up. For example, a news program for teens has been criticized for including ads in its 12-minute classroom broadcasts. And parents' groups successfully fought a plan by a company called Bus Radio to put music and ads into school buses. But now things are different. Just last month, Los Angeles approved a plan to allow companies to advertise in the district's schools. Officials say the plan could provide as much as $18 million for the schools. In St. Francis, Minn., schools recently agreed to cover 10% to 15% of their lockers with ads. Time says. Edward Saxton, a teacher in the school, says, "So far, parents are accepting this as a way to bring in needed money. The money pays for programs like arts, sports and music. Parents don't like to see programs getting cut. Neither do I. Besides, schools are thinking about the effects on kids all the time." However, Susan Linn, an educational expert, says, "Kids have already seen enough ads on TV, in magazines and the products they use daily. School is no place for advertisements at all." Readers, what about you? Would you rather help run yet another school fundraiser, or expose your child to ads on lockers and buses? Is keeping ads out of schools worth raising taxes, or increasing your own cash support for school through donations? What does the text mainly talk about?
The bad effect of ads on kids. Efforts to stop in-school advertising. Whether ads should be allowed in schools. Whether parents should run fundraisers for schools.