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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To complain about the NED yoyo selling show coming to school?

39 replies

LouAnnVanHouten · 02/07/2010 21:24

We have had a letter home today telling us that the NED assembly is coming to school next week. I had heard of them through MN but for those who haven't its a motivational/inspiring pseudo educational American thing where they "inspire" the children whilst doing yoyo tricks then sell the yoyo from between £5 and £10 each.

Technically I can just tell ds I'm not buying a yoyo. He has £5 and can choose to buy the cheap one himself. He usually wastes his pocket money on crap, thats what its there for, but at 6yo its an utter waste of his savings as he has little chance of being able to use the yoyo. It is all the money he has got.

However, I object to the school being used as a shop for an unrelated company.

I'm not sure that the positive message they are trying to sell won't become swamped by the division of the haves and the have nots.

Its a faith school with a huge and varied catchment. Lots of families can afford to buy the yoyos but others can't. This doesn't really fit with the ethos of the school.

In this term we have had 2 sponsored events, a raffle, school play, sports day with ice creams/programmes/raffle, summer fair and several classes have had trips. Its been quite a bit of money when you add it up (although non compulsory)

So AIBU to object? Or am I being difficult and precious and over thinking it?

OP posts:
GiddyPickle · 02/07/2010 21:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

scottishmummy · 02/07/2010 21:30

ned assembly in scotland would be plooks,dirty shellsuits,and buckie.nae yoyo.plenty bawbags

does school get commission from the overpriced toys

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 02/07/2010 21:32

You could pop to the pound shop, buy a load of similar products, stand outside the school gates and set up a stall. Free competition and all that

scottishmummy · 02/07/2010 21:36

never heard of this does school must endorse and presumably take a cut.£6 yoyo is steep

MonarchoftheGarioch · 02/07/2010 21:37

pmsl scottishmummy, was thinking the same thing when I saw the OP!

MonarchoftheGarioch · 02/07/2010 21:40

Oh, and LAVH, you're definitely not BU...

Collision · 02/07/2010 21:40

I sat through the assembly and it was a pile of shite!

They emptied their money boxes and spent £7 each on overpriced yoyos!

Complain away!

ProzacTheGiggleFairy · 02/07/2010 21:41

We had similar in ds2's school, where is was the Skip 2 b Fit sales pitch.
The kids were given a small tub of fruit & were told that they could buy either a skipping rope or a rubber ball on a bit of elastic for £6 each or both for £10.

Luckily ds2 was not interested in either, but I know that loads of the kids pestered their parents for these.

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 02/07/2010 21:42

Seriously, do a jamie oliver, over the fence with the banned cheaper yo yo's.

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 02/07/2010 21:44

www.thenedshow.com These children look brainwashed!

Original poster
LouAnnVanHouten · 02/07/2010 21:59

This is from belles link

Three easy ways to host The NED Show®

  1. FREE
The NED show is free when your school chooses our ?no-fee option?. By giving a little of your time and by making NED items available for your students to purchase for five days following the show, you are bringing our $1,200 program to your school absolutely FREE. We also pay the state sales tax and return freight.
  1. FEE*
Your school pays $1,200 for the program.
  1. NED DELUXE*
Pay $1,500 to host The NED Show and every student receives a $6.50 NED messaged yoyo.

*An additional fee of $400 is charged for each additional show if more than one show is required.

No matter which option you choose, you?ll receive a royalty-free license to use all NED curriculum and messaging materials in your school for an entire year.

So it looks like all the school gets is "NED curriculum and messaging materials" assuming that the UK has the same structure as USA. I think that I'm more cross about it now.

OP posts:
BeenBeta · 02/07/2010 22:00

This absolutley winds me up.

I am sick to death of World Book Day which has been jumped on by the book industry to flog books but has now become embedded in the educational calender.

Charity 'selling' was another feature of our last school. With children being encouraged to collect money in order to win prizes by someone doing what amounted to a sales pitch in the school. The people doing the sales pitch are on a bonus so of course they targeted the private schools. It was one charity sales pitch every half term at one point until parents complained.

echt · 02/07/2010 22:00

Weren't this bunch on an early episode of the Simpsons?

belledechocolatefluffybunny · 02/07/2010 22:02

I think you should opt out. It should be parental choice as to what our children are exposed to at school, we wouldn't allow them to be exploited in this way at home, why should school be any different?

Cretaceous · 02/07/2010 22:05

This even seems to happen with after-school clubs now at our school. They do a pitch in assembly, then sell the club at eg £6 a week for an hour's "lesson" eg gym, chess etc.

It's good to have the club option, but why sell it in assembly to a captive group of impressionable children?

I'd not heard of these yoyo bods, but will watch out for them now!

Original poster
LouAnnVanHouten · 02/07/2010 22:12

They sell the yoyos in school for 5 days after the assembly. I think the desire to buy will come from other dcs having them as much as from the show. I don't mind saying no to ds. I don't buy him crap, he will be ok about either using all his own money or going without. I don't mind him choosing to waste his money on gogos and match attacks etc. but this is more of a hard sell, which seems out of place in a primary school.

OP posts:
Original poster
LouAnnVanHouten · 04/07/2010 21:52

So who is going to help me write the letter to the head?

This is my first draft.

I put the bit in about ds having the money because I didn't want to be all arsey about it and then have her see him racing about with the bastard yoyo.

I don't want to take him out because everyone will be talking about it and buying the yoyos for 5 days afterwards so it will add missing the show misery to not having a yoyo misery.

Pleeeeeeeeeaase help. I always come accross as unacceptably rude in these situations.

I am disappointed that the school has chosen to host the NED show. I am sure the children will enjoy the performance but I have heard that the pressure they put on children to buy the yoyos is quite high. Whilst I understand the positive motivational message that they are trying to push I don?t feel that this comes close to counterbalancing the negative aspects of marketing overpriced plastic toys onto a young captive audience.
I will not be buying a yoyo for ds. He happens to have £5 saved up from his pocket money and if he ?chooses? to he may buy the cheapest yoyo for himself. I don?t think it?s much of a choice given the hard sell he will be exposed to but in many ways that is a lesson in itself. Not all the children will be lucky enough to have between £5 and £10 themselves so will be pestering their parents who have been asked for quite a bit within the last 2 months. I don?t think whipping up a playground craze that separates the haves from the have nots is compatible with the ethos of the school.

OP posts:
MrsCrafty · 04/07/2010 21:59

Don't buy, I gave in and regretted it about 30 seconds after it got chucked on the floor. This is a £10 yoyo and you would have thought that my DS would have tried. Oh no, he just wanted it because 3 of his friends had them.

kennythekangaroo · 04/07/2010 22:03

We had this at school the other week. We only get a cut of the money for school if they take over £1000!

Undertone · 04/07/2010 22:03

good letter.

deaddei · 04/07/2010 22:05

Beenbeta- which charity was that??

Original poster
LouAnnVanHouten · 04/07/2010 22:06

kenny what cut do you get if they get over that? I thought they got nothing except some crappy worksheets or something. There are only 200 dcs in the school so £1000 a bit steep.

OP posts:
thefirstmrsDeVere · 04/07/2010 22:07

YANBU

But doesnt anyone else remember Yo Yo roadshows coming to their schools in the 70s?

I am sure we had Keith Chegwin at one of ours (or that couldve been at Saturday Morning Pictures at the WoodGreen ABC).

yellowvan · 04/07/2010 22:11

Good letter. Get the ethos stuff in early, HTs love talking about their ethos.

kennythekangaroo · 04/07/2010 22:12

No idea what the cut would be sorry.