What happened to candy and magazines?!

[Ghoulish Delight]

I feel sorry for kids today.

We used to have candy drives. And when we weren't having candy drives, we were having magazine drives. And our schools made BANK. One year, our very motivated first grade class sold several thousand dollars worth of candy alone. Once class! It was awesome. The candy was affordable, the magazines were actually heavily discounted. Everyone in the neighborhood loved candy/magazine drives.

But now, at least in OC, it's all about those terrible holiday catalogs. 15 ugly wrapping papers, sappy christmas ornaments, 3 kinds of unapatizing candy, and way too many cookie mixes. And all for horribly inflated prices. Useless.

One parent here at work has had his kid's catalog sitting in a common space at work for several weeks now. There are two orders on the sheet. 500 employees, two orders. Who the hell is going to pay $10 for enough wrapping paper to wrap a gift and a half?

And just to make things worse, today a second, identical catalog has appeared next to it. I'll feel real sorry for the first guy if this one starts getting orders, but somehow I doubt it.

Reader's Digest, where are you?!?!

[Morrigoon]

They'd make a lot more money if the school just bought the candy themselves and had the kids sell it at a markup. Better candy, too.

[scaeagles]

And when we weren't having candy drives, we were having magazine drives.
Reader's Digest, where are you?!?!

It just so happens that my kids are right now selling magazines as a fundraiser. Anyone wanna buy some?????

[Tito's Kitten]

Damn I have got to be quicker!! I am selling magazines too!! No one I know will buy them and the people at my son's dad work are cheap so I am totally screwed. I now feel obligated to buy 2 subscriptions myself.....

[scaeagles]

I got first dibs, tito! :p Take your business elsewhere. :)

[Crystal]

Our daughter is selling magazines subs. right now too! She only needs to sell 12 to win a trip to lunch in a Hummer Limo. She's jazzed!

[Ghoulish Delight]

Ugh. So it IS just Orange County. Stupid Orange County.

[Prudence]

My parents wouldn't let us sell things when we were in school. Something about no kids of theirs going door-to-door like beggars, bothering the neighbors. Whenever this came up, they just wrote the school a big fat check and called it a day.

What still bugs me is that the money my parents gave was outright gain for the school. And if you sorted out how many subscriptions/candy bars it was equal to, we'd have been top sellers. But it didn't count worth a hoot because we weren't "team players."

I am still against schools pimping out their kids like this. I hate that they make it a damn competition. How much money do they waste on "prizes"? And goodness knows what school needs is more ways to ostracize groups of people. And everyone knew the rich kids' parents just took the forms into work and the kids didn't "do" anything.

Now, I do consider student organizations to be a separate case. If student groups (band, choir, lacrosse team, underwater basket weavers) want to hold fundraisers for group specific items (send us to band camp, national underwater basket weaving convention, to the moon, Alice), I'm all for that.

I don't mind groups of people deciding they have a fundraising goal and pursuing it. I *do* mind public schools informing students that they are expected to sell a certain number of whatever or they get punished. I get detention because your levy failed? Wow. Yay public schools. :rolleyes:

(and I'm going to quit now before this turns into a full-on "what's wrong with public schools" rant.)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I *do* mind public schools informing students that they are expected to sell a certain number of whatever or they get punished. I get detention because your levy failed? Huh? I've never heard of being punished because you didn't sell anything.

I'm bummed that my old high school has moved from World's Finest to See's. Yeah, they're better bars, but at $1.50 a pop they're a bit too pricey. World's Finest wasn't a super deal at $1.00 but it was more affordable. And I just loved the cardboard box smell that affected how the candy tasted. :D

I just bought a bunch from my youngest brother so I'm absolved of donation duties for the time being. Oh, and I don't read magazines :p

[scaeagles]

My kids go to private school. It is not a required activity to participate in the fund raisers, but everyone knows that the more money that is raised through fund raisers the less the tuition increases the following year.

The company the school goes through actually has a website with a school code. So they just go on the web, fill it out with the appropriate school code and student you are "buying from", and the school is notified. Makes it much easier.

[Prudence]

Huh? I've never heard of being punished because you didn't sell anything.



Absolutely. Each student was set a minimum quota. We did magazines, and it was 10 subscriptions. Punishment varied, from being banned from the end of year assembly to being assigned extra school work to flat out after-school detention.

[scaeagles]

Absolutely. Each student was set a minimum quota. We did magazines, and it was 10 subscriptions. Punishment varied, from being banned from the end of year assembly to being assigned extra school work to flat out after-school detention.

Sounds like lawsuit material to me. Ain't no one in a public school, where children are REQUIRED to be (unless they happen to go to a private school), gonna tell my kids they have to sell magazines for a grade.

I was successful just threatening legal action against a professor in college that was going to require me to pay for something that had an effect on my grade. I told him he better get it approved as a fee for the course rather than telling me after I'm in it that I've gotta come up with some money for a class project. There were fundraising options available, but I had 21 hours and was dirt poor. There was no way he was getting a dime from me or one second of my time raising funds.

[BarTopDancer]

We've got a box of Helen Grace bars sitting in our break area with the cash envelope. Mighty brave of the dad who put it in there (we have several food theives).

I won't buy junk I don't need which eliminates most of the stuff sold by kids now. It's sad since so many supported me. I will buy Girl Scout cookies though. Is it cookie season yet?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, required sales quotas is crossing a line big time. We never had those, only rewards. And the rewards started at sale #1. Boy how we all craved those weeble people. :D

[Morrigoon]

Prudence: that's HORRIBLE! Forcing schoolkids to pawn of candy bars which, while it does raise money for the school, also makes money for some commercial interest. That smacks of slavery to me.

[Prudence]

Prudence: that's HORRIBLE! Forcing schoolkids to pawn of candy bars which, while it does raise money for the school, also makes money for some commercial interest. That smacks of slavery to me.

Yes, but the school's position was that it was a homework assignment like any other.

Reason # 47 why I plan to home school.

Our church youth group sold wrapping paper. It was GOOD wrapping paper. Enormous rolls of nice, thick paper. And remember, I have no problem with individual groups choosing a fundraiser. Plus, our fundraising consisted of setting up a table in the foyer and selling to church members who approached us with the intent to purchase.

Damn I miss that paper. Now I just have cheap Target crap.

[Morrigoon]

A homework assignment that depends upon the monetary performance of another? Sheesh.

[Tito's Kitten]

I have never been so hot on the magazine thing. It was hard enough selling chocolates at my old work at a dollar a piece. But 12 bucks for a subscription?? Yeah right!! Things are so different at this school too. (my son now attends this really prestigous la de da public school in West Hills where I had to fill out an affidavit to prove I live in the neighborhood besides power bills, etc. It was so crazy!!) They are not just having a magazine drive but a pledge drive because most of the parents just donate a hundred dollars per family (or student) to the school to help pay for computers, thier music program (children in certain grades get private lessons) etc.

I would be more willing to buy things and sell more stuff if I knew for a fact that at least a portion would be going straight to my son's kinder class.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Reason # 47 why I plan to home school.Sounds like your school was the exception to the rule. Don't judge all public schools by that insanity.

[Name]

Sounds like a great way to teach the youngins to shill for the corporate machine early in life, get them used to the make quota or get canned workforce out there. I vote yes for elementary school candy fundraiser quotas.

[/sarcasm]

[Prudence]

Sounds like your school was the exception to the rule. Don't judge all public schools by that insanity.


Most of my objections are fairly well represented out there in the world. Teaching to the standardized test, "mainstreaming" gifted students, schools paralyzed by unruly students whose parents won't discipline them and threaten lawsuits should the school try, revisionist doctrine throughout the humanities, school-sponsored caste systems, and so forth.

Don't misunderstand me -- I support the public school system, vote for levys (and yes, I do pay property taxes), and not all of my public school system encounters sucked. Jr high blew big meaty chunks, but I had some absolutely excellent teachers in high school and my 5th/6th grade teacher was particularly influential -- without a doubt the one person, aside from my parents, that's most responsible for shaping my mind. There are amazing teachers out there doing their damndest and giving all they have to "their kids."

And if the public schools in my area when I have school-age kids are good, maybe the kids will go there. But I'm working hard now so that I can provide them with best education I can find and that's what they'll get -- whether public, private or at home. If I popped out a 6 year old right now -- the best option would be home schooling.

And then an exciting write-up in JAMA for birthing a 6 year old.

Would you like to buy a subscription to JAMA?

[jdramj]

scaeagles...where do your kids go to school...sounds exactly like my kids school.

This year, I have decided due to the preschool's See's Candy sales, the Cub scouts popcorn sales, the girl scouts cookie sales, the softball candy bar sales, and the school's wrapping/chocolate/subscription sales, that my kids will champion one sales event each. I will take the buy out option on the softball candy bar sales this year. 4 kids at once, trying to sell the wrapping paper, chocoates, and the subscriptions is too much!

So 3 of my kids' classes won't get their 100% participation donut party and my kids don't qualify for free pizza lunch. I can pick up a few dozen donuts as a class treat one day and they have pizza lunch specials every Friday. I can well make up for it cheaper than buying 10 items per kid, and probably have enough money left over to donate to the school and they would still come out ahead!

[Baileykat]

Our school does the crappy catalog of gift wrap and crap candy! I hate it! Won't even try to sell it! Ticks my kids off...of course they only want to sell so they can get the "prizes". I don't even buy from it unless there's some sort of unique items for Christmas gifts. But the wrapping paper...forget it! It's way over priced!!!! Ugh!


In the spring, they sold the tubs of ready made cookie dough. The prizes this time were a pizza party for the top selling class AND for every 5 tubs you sold, YOU got a free tub! They were $10 a pop! I didn't buy a single tub and I still have 4 tubs frozen in my fridge..so it worked out well for me!

But the down side to having two kids selling and your husband having cookie hungry employees is that you can't fit 65 tubs of cookie dough in your apartment freezer! They don't list that on the selling brochure!

[Ghoulish Delight]

But it's overpriced for a good cause! :rolleyes:

[sleepyjeff]

Ugh. So it IS just Orange County. Stupid Orange County.

Not just Orange Co. We have the same stupid wrapping paper catalogs here too. Have you ever bought some of that paper. You get a tiny little sheet just large enough to wrap something like a book or a couple of CDs.......You would have to order about 7 sheets at $15 a sheet to equal the amount of paper you get in a single $7.00 target roll :rolleyes:

[Ghoulish Delight]

Have you ever bought some of that paper. You get a tiny little sheet just large enough to wrap something like a book or a couple of CDs.......

ahem

Who the hell is going to pay $10 for enough wrapping paper to wrap a gift and a half?:p

[sleepyjeff]

ahem

:p

Guilty; it's hard to say no to the little ones :blush:

[Baileykat]

Wouldn't you know it? I go to pick up the kids yesterday and what's posted..but a big ole' sign announcing the gift wrap sales!

I'm SO glad yesterday was our last day!!

[TigerLily]

I love the wrapping paper from those catalogs. It's nice a thick. I realy dislike the cheap paper found at most stores during the holiday season. They don't seemt o sell this stuff in high school. My daughter has yet to come home with a catalog....or maybe she just leaves it behind...;)

the wrapping paper actually wrapped most of my gifts last year. One year I ahd some left over. I do freely admit I don't do the holidays. I do bare minimum of what is expected of me from the family. Last year we didn't even show for christmas eve. We showed up alte on christas day to avoid a family argument....

[Ghoulish Delight]

There was a new catalog from another parent in the break room today. This one was for cookie dough. It comes in 3 lbs boxes with 4 dozen pre-formed cookies (just put them on a tray and bake). Sounds good but...$14 per box. $14 and the damn things aren't even cooked!