"I am thrilled to inform you that, based on her academic achievements and leadership potential, your daughter, Jamie, has been nominated to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference to be held this summer in Washington, D.C."
The letter had a fancy embossed seal at the top featuring the capital building. Inside was a list of U.S. Congressmen and women who were "honorary Congressional Board of Advisors". The letter specified which teacher at her middle school nominated Jamie, adding to the unique nature of this honor.
Well, as no doubt some of you have already surmised, perhaps this is not the "honor" it claims to be. It did not take long, thanks to Google, to get a fairly clear representation of what is going on here. Jamie has been invited, along with probably practically every other child in the U.S. of her age group, to go to summer camp in Washington. For $2,000.
I was already suspicious before I did my research. After all, the letter failed to mention the date of this unique honor. Only when I poured through the literature did I discover that Jamie had her choice of dates.... any week at all from June 5 through August 14. The invitation included a non-date specific "schedule" including trips and museums and even a visit to Harper's Ferry-- although the small print at the bottom did say "this schedule of events is provided as an example of the overall quality and scope of the experience offered. The specific schedule, details, and locations, including the location of the program sleepover, may be modified." In other words, nothing in here is necessarily true.
Well, it is true that Jamie is an exceptional young person. But this invitation is not an honor. It is a solicitation from a for-profit organization which essentially markets a one week summer camp in Washington D.C. for $2,000 (not including transportation). According to one internet site I visited, the parent company for this enterprise reported 18-million dollars in profits in 2009.
Ok. So big deal. This kind of thing happens all the time. Have a good laugh and throw it away.
Which we did, and Jamie took it very well that she was not, in fact, separated out for a special honor. And it is also true that, although the word "scam" was bantered about the internet, some parents did report their young person had a fine time while attending the event.
But I want to make a different observation--that this "invitation" is symptomatic of the way communication is happening more and more in our country. And not simply by direct marketers such as this. It is endemic to much media coverage, especially by news organizations such as Fox or, to some degree MSNBC.
It is a tried and true advertising trick--say something that is true, but not necessarily true in the way you intend it to be heard. For example, the local tax return franchise reports that 9 out of 10 of their customers receive a refund. Well, since 9 out of 10 American taxpayers receive a refund generally, this is true. But the implication is that customers of this service uniquely receive a refund when they are nothing more than a reflection of a national average.
Regarding Jamie's offer--it is not really a "scam" because if we pony up the money and go to Washington, D.C. she will have some kind of "experience". What is dishonest about the solicitation is the implication--which we are allowed to accept if we are uncritical enough to do so--that Jamie is somehow "special" and that this offer is sent only to a "select" few. No where does the letter say this, but the way it is packaged and presented leaves that impression. The fact that her teacher "recommended" her, lends another detail of authenticity.
It is not lying to tell the truth to someone in such a way that they will hear a different truth than the one you tell. But it is misleading and it is, I will argue, dishonest. It is more insidious than lying. We expect this sort of thing from our advertisers and our politicians. As it is said, "let the buyer beware". If you can't figure out that "free just pay shipping" is not free, than maybe you don't deserve any sympathy.
But now we are hearing this approach to communication echoed throughout most areas of our culture. It is particularly disturbing within the 24/7 cable news industry--not to mention the slick magazines and tabloid newspapers--have found this a clever way of retaining listeners and readers and of generating ad revenue. At the same time, circulation of newspapers continues to decline and true journalists are scrambling to find ways to do their jobs with integrity.
Things are not likely to get better any time soon, at least based upon the assumption that the education of the young bodes well for a society's future. Here in North Platte the school system is adjusting to a reduction of ten-percent of the budget. Kansas City has closed half of its schools. Tuition at colleges and universities is rising as public funding is reduced. Clearly our society does not value education defined as the exploration of the range of knowledge and the discovery of gifts and vocations. Boards of Educations fight battles of ideology as shadow and not so shadow organizations continue to infiltrate public education with misguided claims relating to religion, science, and the re-invention of history.
So Jamie will not be going to D.C. this summer as part of this "honored" group of random students who are now hopelessly stuck on this company's mailing list. We will be going to other places instead, such as New York City where, for much less than $2,000 she can actually go to a museum, see a show, be exposed to a new part of the country. And so can our son, who is not yet old enough to be selected for this "honor".
If we truly want to honor our students--and not just a handful-- we need to restore their education and future to a place of prominence in our distribution of public funds and, in all manner of public service, journalism, teaching, and media--we must tell them the truth.
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