Expensive school visitors

[upsidedown]

So far this year at my son's high school he has had two "celebrity" author visits, with book signings at eight quid a throw, and two charities visit.
The charities inform the parents of the impending educational visit by sending a letter home stapled to a collection envelope that the child has to take in when they go to the school hall for the talk. The envelope states that if the child collects £21 they will get a t-shirt.
Now I've never heard of either of the authors; and my knowledge of leprosy is sketchy at best.
So is this a new and untapped revenue stream for authors and charities or had it always gone on ?

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Mad Doug Biker thought organic crops were sex mad vegetables.

We had the Lepra thing in first year, but it was a sponsored run/dawdle. We never had anything else like that and most certainly never had any authors.

 

[vernon]

Refuse to participate. It's extortion. I've not come across activities like that in 25 years of teaching.

Is it a state school?

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Does sound wrong , moral extortion

 

[upsidedown]

Yes vernon it is a state school. I suspect the school gets a cut of the author's money. There's 1000 kids at the school who all dutifully line up with cash in hand. Peer pressure at it's worst.

 

[vernon]

A letter from 'c concerned parent' to the local rag might create some local interest in the activities and bring them to a sputtering halt.

It's just so wrong at all levels.

 

[beanzontoast]

I'm all for individual classes deciding collectively as part of their studies to support a related charity in some way that doesn't involve their parents having to fork out - by maybe running a stall at a summer fair or the like - but I don't agree in any way with putting pressure on people to support charities.

 

[summerdays]

We've definitely not had the charity thing (well apart from the £1 non uniform days they have), but at primary school my children have had various authors come in for a day. They have often asked for a donation usually about £2 to contribute to the costs but there is no pressure to force you to pay. I can't remember what the one last term was but my son really really enjoyed the experience and was easily worth the money (which sat in his bag for 2 weeks after the event when I finally recovered it and took it in myself).

So I don't have a problem if schools ask for a small donation to help them run certain activities whereas what you are describing sounds much more pressurized.

 

[Aperitif]

We had Alan Sillitoe at our school. I don't think he was paid anything but he was obviously cool as he spoke like we did and he smoked loads of fags.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Korky Paul the children's writer/illustrator went to my daughter's school.
She won the drawing competition and he gave her a signed book. All for free.

 

[theclaud]

Korky Paul the children's writer/illustrator went to my daughter's school.
She won the drawing competition and he gave her a signed book. All for free.

Well done ThreeBikesMiniMcGinty

 

[sheddy]

Thats a super drawing !