Take a Break from School?

While the last thing I need is to add more paper to my ever cluttered house, my son’s school sends home flyers and announcements by way of his school folder occasionally, and they are helpful tidbits of information about upcoming events and fundraisers. As a member of the PTA, I’m familiar with this, and it can be an effective way to get the word out in addition to emails about fundraisers and events. Case in point, I am organizing a craft fair at the school (point gun to my head now), and we just sent a flyer off to the copy center to get ready for distribution. More to come on that in later posts, on what I’m sure will be a fun ride in the handbasket to PTA hell. But I digress.

Anyway, point of the story is that there was this handout that came home the other day. Occasionally there will be flyers that are clearly full-blown advertising that one could bitch and say it’s crossing the line to send that stuff home in my kid’s folder. In my idealistic world, the schools don’t need money to survive and I don’t have to work. I’m hoping the latter pans out for me someday, but there’s a slim chance in hell (there’s that reference again---hmmm, PTA, hell, School, hell; I see a trend here) that levies will ever go away. So, anyway, the flyer that was a full-blown advertisement for the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, advertised that they will be in Columbus May 14-17. And the copy read something like this:

“Hey Kids! Take a Break from School and Come to the Circus!”

The circus on those dates takes place at 7:30 pm, so they wouldn’t really be “taking a break from school”, but what marketing manager approved that copy? As someone in the marketing industry, there could have been a much better phrase. Certainly one less presumptive that parents want their kids to take a break school. Especially a flyer being sent home from the school.

I have a long-standing issue with the circus anyway. While I don’t want to make this post about animal rights, I have issues with their treatment of animals. But it’s not about my bias against circuses. It could have been a flyer about Earth Day.

And before I could scan the flyer for proof, my toddler got a hold of it and torn it up for use as “snow”. Looks like he has something against circuses, too. Either that, or creative repurposing.