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Business-Managed Democracy‘Business-managed democracies are those in which the political and cultural 
Introduction
Business coalitions have persuaded governments around the world to turn schools into competing business enterprises where children are drilled and tested on a narrow range of skills. Despite their declining contribution to the costs of schooling, businesses are taking control of more and more aspects of schooling, not only to produce submissive employees with basic literacy and numeracy skills, but also to prevent the development of critical thinking skills. They are seeking to erode public schooling, as well as promote consumer values and business viewpoints and ideology. Education is no longer just about the 3 'R's, but the 5 'R's:
The consequence of this corporate capture of childhood has been a generation of children who have been manipulated, shaped and exploited as never before in history. Not only have they lost the opportunity to play and develop at their own pace, their psyches have been damaged and their view of the world distorted. They are trained rather than educated and constantly tested to make sure they have absorbed the ‘correct’ information. They are supposed to seek happiness in possessions, treat relationships as a means to an end, and incessantly compete with each other. Children have never before been under such pressure to conform to business requirements. It is little wonder that so many children grow into youths who are unhappy, stressed, fat, delinquent, or self-destructive.
© 2009 Sharon Beder
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The Corporate Capture of Childhood