Hightower Lowdown

Remember the field trips you took in elementary school—maybe to the fire department, a farm, or other places where you learned a bit about how things work?

Well, those old-fashioned trips are being updated. Why take kids to a farm when we can send them to Petco, the pet-supply retail chain? Teachers bring classes into the local Petco outlet, where kids can hear a talking parrot, see an exotic lizard, pet a puppy . . . and get coupons for free goldfish. “By the weekend,” says a Petco official, “at least 10 [kids] will be here with their families to show them what they got to see—and to redeem the coupon.”

Good grief! Even Toys “R” Us is hosting “field trips,” offering tours of the store that let students use the toys, art supplies, and other goodies for sale there—not so much an educational experience as a come-on for tiny shoppers.

The branding of young minds has become its own industry, spawning companies like the Field Trip Factory, which worked with schools to set up 3,300 student tours of Petco stores last school year.

In these times of budget cutbacks, school officials are grateful for the pre-packaged cheap outings. As one exclaimed: “We can provide kids with experiences at no cost.”

No cost? What about the commercialization of our children and the integrity of their education?

Support the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” drawn up by the watchdog group Commercial Alert: 503-235-8012.