The House Of Odd

Now that the kids are back in school and fall is just around the corner it can mean only one thing: fundraising season. Most parents of school age children have to endure this time by being forced to purchase over priced low grade chocolates and multiple coupon books they’ll never use. Even those without kids are not immune from this horror. This time of year every office kitchen is littered with the order sheets for the various fundraising schemes. If they don’t get you in the office they’ll come to your door, they are everywhere.

This year they have gone too far. Sent home in an innocuous flier, the latest fundraising promotion for the kids involves spamming. The coupon book fundraising juggernaut Entertainment is encouraging kids to log on to the company website and submit their friends and family’s email address. To entice the little tykes to comply Entertainment has cooked up a little contest with ‘cool’ prizes every grade schooler desires. Top prizes include a Nintento Wii, an Apple iPod, and the ever popular $25 Target gift card. With a winner every hour, your child only needs to give up 5 coveted email addresses.

By using the site’s super convenient email template, little Johnny or Jane can unwittingly spam your entire Outlook address book in no time. The flier neglects to mention what the company will do with the procured email addresses, presumably they will only be used to inform your friends of special offers that they’ll be happy to receive on a daily basis.

It’s bad enough parents must buy crappy candy and coupons for crappy restaurants an hour away; turning your kids into spammers is the last straw. Tell your school administrators that you’ll have none of it. Better yet, email a local assemblyman and let them know what an injustice this is. If they don’t respond then there is an offer for a coupon book they may be delighted to hear about.