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Monday, June 13, 2011

Only when someone else is looking « Failing Schools

Only when someone else is looking « Failing Schools

Only when someone else is looking

JUNE 13, 2011
by Sabrina

I was brushing my teeth this morning when I glanced over at the bottle of mouthwash sitting on the bathroom counter.

“Helps you get better dental checkups,” the bottle boasted, linking itself to recent commercials that explain how a given oral health product helps you improve the areas of your mouth “that dentists check the most.”

That’s weird to me. My goal isn’t to have better checkups; I’d like strong, healthy teeth! Obviously, there’s some connection between the two, but when– and why– did marketers decide that successful checkups is the more compelling point to make?

It reminded me of all the times I’ve heard students ask, “Will this be on the test?” when