list, “Most kids think they can’t live without Nike,” onestudent observed. The others agreed that the company holds great sway overyoung people. Several wondered if we could even compete with its power: “ Thewhole point of the play would be to get them to join the boycott,” one studentcautioned,“ but most kids would never stop wearing Nike stuff. It wouldn’t becool at all to be against Nike” ( par. 3).The students agreed that kids have the right to know of the awful conditions. These childrenknew that they could make a difference if they informed their peers of the situations that they havebecome aware of. The students wanted to be able to reach all of their intended audience. This is why theychoose Disney as the second company, hoping to reach the younger audience. The students knewthis was important news to get out. Parents of these children showed some concern in theirchildren not hearing both sides of this issue, so their teacher made the effort to stress thedifference between the goals behind the companies’ public relations department versus the humanrights groups. The public relations department’s goal being to promote a positive public imageand thereby enhance earnings, their motive here being profit. This would somehow explain to thestudents why the public relations departments would publicly deny any involvement with childlabor or sweatshops. The human rights groups however are motivated by morality and justice. This way the children knew the differences between both sides and could make their ownopinions. (par. 15)Mueckler 8Once the children’s play was put together, the school refused to let them perform it infront of the rest of the school as originally planned. The children recognized this as censorship.They were being forced to only perform it in front of an audience consisting of their parents. However, a reporter heard of the children’...
