ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County School District is raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars by allowing companies to pitch their products to children, and this had other Central Florida districts wanting to follow suit.
The district has made $770,000 in just three years by selling ad space online, in newsletters and at school events.
But WFTV's Bianca Castro talked to experts who say they have proof school ads are hurting children.
When Boone High School students file into the gym this fall, they'll be welcomed to Boone Country by Panera Bread.
"It's nontraditional revenue that we weren't making in the past," said Brian Siatkowski, a spokesman for Orange County Public Schools.
Disney ads on the lunch menus brought in $30,000.
It's enough profit to pay for high school football trainers.
"In the past, those trainers weren't there, or they were out there volunteering," said Siatkowski.
The small ads may not seem like a big deal, considering children are bombarded with ads from everywhere else, including on television and the Internet, but researchers said parents should be concerned.
Research from the University of Colorado finds ads at school make children want more and even eat more, and they create a dependence on commercial products to boost self-esteem.
"Schools are actually a place that can and should be separate. It is one of the only places, really, where kids are encouraged just to be themselves and to develop interests that are other than commercial," said Faith Boninger, of the School of Education at University of Colorado.
But it's an easy money-maker.
Seminole County, which faced an $18 million budget gap this year, just hired a national marketing firm to sell ad space at its schools.
Orange County currently has about 45 companies that are advertising at schools and athletic events.
The school district said it does not allow ads inside classrooms.
WFTV
