"With my discovery I could not help but question that if a national education website such as eSchool News could mess up on this scale what about locally?"
On March 12, 2020 Prince William County Schools were cancelled until April 14th 2020. Coronavirus had become more rampant around the United States including in Virginia. Prince William County would later extend this to the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Leaving kids like me, you guessed it, surfing the internet.
Instead of scrolling through Instagram, however I wanted to answer a question about how school corporations known for in person items such as textbooks would move and react during this time and what would that mean for students like me.
During my research I stumbled upon eSchool News. A school education website for teachers, students, and parents alike. Furthering my research throughout the website I found schoolpop.com, an efficient online school fundraising platform.
Sounds cool right? That is what I thought to. Until I clicked on the link.
Now, you may be wondering why it's all 'gone'. This is because schoolpop.com was no longer a school fundraising platform but rather an erotic Japanese blogsite.
Confused, I clicked on the link a few more times from several different articles on the website and other school websites such as Education Week, PTO Today and Fundraisers.com only to find that it was not a mistake. Why would school websites have such an explicit one linked. Assuming they were not aware I contacted eSchool News to inform them. Stating:
"Hi, my name is Ashleigh Clyde. I am a student in Virginia who enjoys reading your articles that help me to become a better student. I also have a passion for education reform and policy in the United States and internationally that could help shape the lives of students globally and eventually create an incredible group of leaders that will inherently be our future. However, as I was doing some research on Corporate America in classrooms I came across a former online school fundraiser Schoolpop.com (a link in one of many eSchool News articles.) Unsuitably, the website is now an erotic Japanese blog with suggestive, sexual, and graphic images and texts that are entirely inappropriate to students, parents and teachers who visit this site. I am aware that as time progresses things such as website owners change, but, it would be doing a great disservice to me, others, and eSchool News as a whole to not share this serious concern. I hope that you take this to heart and change this for the better. Thank you."
-Thursday July 23, 2020
Almost a year later, I have gotten no response, despite the fact that it states, "We will respond to you as quickly as possible." The website domain is now being sold again, hopefully to a better owner.
With my discovery I could not help but question that if a national education website such as eSchool News could mess up on this scale what about locally?
To find out more about this issue I contacted Dr. Alex Molnar, the nation's leading expert on Corporate Involvement in Education:
As you are the nation's leading expert on this topic, straight off the bat what is schoolhouse commercialism?
"Well, schoolhouse commercialism is when corporations use schools for private profit for commercial interest."
Throughout the duration of the interview, I asked Dr. Molnar more questions until he finally interrupted me and said:
"I-I have a question for you. So, talk to me a little bit about how you took on this issue. A little bit about why you care about this. That it is something important."
"So me, I've been really thinking about how students impact society as a whole. I think a lot of the issues that I was really interested and passionate about are why leaders of today don't see students as future leaders. And I think, that allowed me to think, "who does see us as future leaders?" Then when I was researching it and looking at your work it seems as if corporations kinda found students as a threat in a way. That we are future voters. And for example, I guess climate change, and certain corporations wouldn't want kids to think a certain way, and so they, it seems, like corporations are the only ones I guess in a sense care enough to impact education and change in that way. And I found that very interesting.
"That is interesting"
Unfortunately, the rest of the interview recording is quite inaudible. However, with what basis of information I got from both Dr. Molnar and Dr. Faith Boninger I began to search for this in my own school and community.
(From a PowerPoint Presentation I showed my classmates to inform them about local corporate involvement in our school)
Then I came across an article that was concerned about the Amazon headquarters that is being built in Alexandria, Virginia. I had heard my mom talk to me about it before, and how it was going to produce many new jobs. The article stated that many parents were concerned with how this Amazon would impact their children's education. More specifically CTE classes.
CTE stands for Career and Technical Education. It is supposed to help children learn about specific work-related skills in order to push them into the corporate world sooner than later.
Chesterfield, Virginia parents are constantly concerned that big companies such as Amazon are attempting to "align school curricula to corporate workforce training."
To bring awareness to this situation I contacted my local University George Mason. In telling them what I had uncovered I partnered with Dr. Megan Call-Cummings, an assistant professor with a focus on Youth Participatory Action Research.
I became the Student Leader of my schools Courageous Conversations club that has gotten lots of recognition locally.
As well as nationally by CEO's trying to make it right such as Benjamin Backer, Manu Meel, and David McCullough III.
I am now a George Mason University co-researcher and a regular guest PhD class speaker. I have also co-authored a research paper about my findings.
