McDonald's insensitive during elementary school fundraiser

Last night was "McTeacher" night at my local McDonald's. This event was a fundraiser for my son's elementary school. Fundraisers such as this, where the restaurant donates 10% (as in this case) or more to the school or cause are fairly common here. There was an interesting twist to this one though as the teachers from my son's school participated with serving, cleaning up, greeting, and taking orders. Also, Santa was there, allowing children to sit on his lap, talk to him, and to take pictures with him.

The place was pretty full, and I was glad that we went during the last teacher shift (which was the shift my son's teacher served on) as the crowd could have been even heavier. That's when I noticed several children looking at something. It was the television. CNN was on, and of course there was continuing coverage of the Connecticut tragedy playing out, complete with pictures and stories of some of the young children who were killed.

I wrote on Monday and again on Tuesday about how I have shielded my younger children from what has happened and hoped to continue to do so. My family was positioned so that, while my children could see the television if they tried to, it was less likely for them to notice it than for the aforementioned children.

I went to the counter, got the attention of one of the at least 3 managers on duty, and mentioned my concern to him. I asked if he would please consider putting on something more child-appropriate. He told me that CNN is the only channel the restaurant received. I then asked him to please consider turning the television off. He acknowledged my request but did not affirm or decline my request directly.

We were there for another 20 to 30 minutes. The television remained on. My children did not see what was on television, but many others did.

Besides the lack of common sense, I think this was completely insensitive.

Carry on.