First Amendment Rights and School Products Regulation

The promotion of unhealthy foods and drinks in public schools raises some surprising First Amendment issues. There is a basic difference between School District policies that regulate products and policies that regulate speech regarding unhealthy foods and drinks.

To attempt to regulate advertising for the products is where First Amendment can be challenging. Constitutional challenges can arise for a School District that attempts of be pro active about prevention of such advertising.

If the School negotiates a vendor contract prohibiting advertising that is not desired it would seem that the company surrenders their First Amendment rights. If several schools in a District negotiate the same kind of contract it may open the District to charges of having a de facto District policy which may be treated by the courts as a First Amendment issue.

It is my opinion that commercial speech has become an active legal field since there is an apparent tendency to commercialize as many aspects of society as possible. Public School education offers a captive audience to advertisers without parental or community interference. The School becomes a tool for advertisers in shaping the minds of consumers.

Apparently courts today wish school district public policy on foods and beverage advertising to apply the test of being both "reasonable" and "viewpoint neutral". Interesting and highly subjective tests.

Religion is barred from influencing the minds of students but apparently advertisers are to be permitted to shape mental attitudes. If one looks on materialism as one among many philosophies that give meaning to life, the school may become an agent of materialism with no interference from other meaning giving systems of thought.

Samantha Graff present the situation in the article "First Amendment Implications of Restricting Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools" in the January, 2008 edition of The Annals...