by Olivia Kay

Created on: January 08, 2009   Last Updated: December 05, 2010

Ever feel like your child is being forced into door-to-door sales at too young of an age?  If so, you are not alone, now, more than ever before, more and more elementary, middle, and high school children are pressured to sell items in order to earn money or rewards that will benefit both themselves and their schools. 

Fundraisers for schools and school-related activities seem to never end. It's almost impossible to send a child to school these days without being expected to have your child sell something for one class or school organization at least one time throughout the year.

Is it right for children to be expected to raise money for schools? There are two ways to look at this question...

On one hand, you have to look at what the money raised is used to purchase and how it is used to benefit the students in a particular school or school district as a whole. Many public schools are operating on bare-bones budgets and are being forced into making onging cuts in staff and programs, which makes providing a quality education to all students who pass through their doors a true challenge. When students and staff participate in fundraisers for schools, they are enabling schools to be able to fund educational initiatives that significantly enhance the educational experience for all students. The more meaningful that an education is, the more likely it is for students to build a successful future for themselves.

Additionally, by raising money as a part of a class or an organization, children begin to realize the concept of teamwork and how by working together with others that it is possible to reach both large and small goals. Fundraising gives children a chance to be responsible for creating their own desired outcomes by doing what it takes to meet the goals they set for themselves and their classes or organizations.

On the other hand, isn't going to school enough for kids? Do they need the extra pressures of seeling and meeting sales quotas in addition to learning activities, homework, and tests? Don't these activities get in the way of gaining essential knowledge? What happens to those children who cannot find people to sell to or whose parents aren't able to buy the product that their child is to sell? These are all very important questions to ask when considering the question if whether it is a good idea for students to participate in fundraisers.

There are both pluses and minuses to the question of whether students should sell door to door as a part of school fundraisers. The positives are that schools can afford to further enhance the curriculum that they offer to their students, that students develop character traits in the process of participating in fundraisers such as responsibility and citizenship, and that students learn first hand about goals and how to meet them.

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