The Plastic Industry’s Hidden Lesson Plan: Indoctrinating a Generation

The plastics industry has been quietly inserting its agenda into classrooms across the US, peddling propaganda to unsuspecting students and teachers alike. A report from the Plastic Pollution Coalition reveals that industry interests have infiltrated school curricula on an alarming scale.

At first glance, these efforts may seem innocuous: plastics companies offering free or low-cost lesson plans and worksheets that supposedly support STEM learning objectives. However, a closer examination reveals a more insidious motive. These materials aim not only to educate students about plastics but also to indoctrinate them with industry talking points.

Industry-sponsored curricula often downplay the significant downsides of plastic pollution, instead emphasizing its supposed benefits to human health and the environment. This is not education; it’s propaganda. Madison Dennis, senior policy and advocacy manager for Plastic Pollution Coalition, notes that when industry information is provided to kids, “it obfuscates the true impacts of plastic pollution.”

The report highlights four case studies of plastics industry propaganda in schools. The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) has developed lesson plans encouraging students to participate in a “plastic scavenger hunt” and understand the importance of plastics to society. Another example features the American Association of Chemistry Teachers, an initiative of Dow Chemical Company, which teaches elementary and middle school students how to compare the strength of various types of plastic bags while promoting industry talking points about affordability and safety.

These materials are not isolated incidents; they’re part of a larger trend that suggests the plastics industry has been infiltrating schools for decades. The report documents the presence of plastics propaganda in school curricula since at least the 2000s, with industry groups lobbying state education departments to incorporate pro-plastics materials into textbooks and lesson plans.

The plastics industry’s investment in shaping young minds is not about promoting STEM learning objectives but about cultivating a future workforce that will continue to perpetuate the plastic cycle. By indoctrinating students with industry talking points, these companies aim to create a loyal constituency that will defend their interests for years to come.

This trend is also symptomatic of a broader issue plaguing US public schools: the erosion of teacher autonomy and the growing reliance on vested interests to provide curricula and resources. When teachers are overwhelmed with demands from industry groups, it can be difficult for them to resist free materials or “support” – even if they come with strings attached.

The implications of this trend are far-reaching and unsettling. As we continue to produce record amounts of plastic waste, our children are being taught that the solution lies not in reducing production but in recycling more. However, scientists have repeatedly warned that recycling is a Band-Aid solution at best – and one that will inevitably fail to keep up with projected growth in plastic production.

The consequences of this trend mean we’re creating a generation of young people who are primed to perpetuate the very problems we claim to be solving. We’re sacrificing critical thinking and scientific literacy at the altar of industry interests, and neglecting the most pressing issue of our time: the urgent need for systemic change in how we produce, consume, and dispose of plastics.

As students head back to school this fall, it’s essential that parents, teachers, and policymakers keep a watchful eye on what’s being taught – and who’s doing the teaching. The stakes are higher than ever before, and it’s time we take a stand against the plastic industry’s hidden lesson plan: indoctrinating a generation into complicity in one of the most pressing environmental crises of our time.