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Data center industry courts kids with books and field trips

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Data center industry courts kids with books and field trips

WIRED's weekly Power Play column, written this week by Caroline Haskins in place of senior writer Molly Taft, looks at a quieter part of the data center industry's image campaign: winning over children.

It opens with a children's story, "What is a Data Center?", recommended by the nonprofit 7x24 Exchange International, which wants to promote data centers as "mission critical" infrastructure. A honey badger named Honey gets a tour from a data center worker named Oliver, who explains that staff make sure the functions the facility supports are available to anybody, no matter what time it is. Honey asks whether that is like her mom shopping online late at night because her dad is sleeping and won't know about it. WIRED says the story is part of a broader pattern across the industry. Beyond lobbying, job creation programs and tax breaks, companies and interest groups are trying something more creative, and the industry is apparently taking a softer approach to community building as pushback against massive data center build-outs intensifies.

The examples are specific. In May, the Potomac chapter of the Association for Computer Operations Management (AFCOM), a trade group for the data center industry, sponsored Memorial Day-themed flag-making kits for 3,100 first graders across 37 schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, also known as Data Center Alley. Kids also got an informational card with statistics about the positive impact of the data center industry on the local economy.

7x24 Exchange also runs "International Data Center Day", described as designed to create awareness of the industry and inspire the next generation of talent. It encourages people to pitch the holiday to school administrators. High schools get a celebratory crossword and information about data center training programs. Elementary schools get data center-themed coloring pages, instructions for an evaporation-themed science project, and activities such as "Draw a picture of the cloud" and "Draw a data superhero". The group also promotes several data center-themed books for young readers, including one about two sisters who meet a robot named JB, one about two brothers who save the internet, and "Polly Packet's Precious Payload", about a mother teaching her daughter about data centers. This year 7x24 Exchange has visited or organized at least a half-dozen K-12 events at schools across the country. In Minnesota it took Fridley High School students to a local Cummins diesel power generation facility to learn about the generators that power data centers worldwide. 7x24 Exchange, Cummins and Fridley High School did not respond to WIRED's request for comment.

The nonprofit is far from alone. WIRED's tally of public blogs and social media posts found at least eleven companies and industry groups have hosted student field trips to local data centers since 2025. Sabey, which runs seven US data centers, has hosted Washington-based high schoolers: Eastmont High School students in May, Manson School District students in January, and Quincy High School students last October. Manson's blog post about its trip carries an image labeled as AI-generated content in which several people appear to have missing limbs; the post says students learned about the role data centers play in storing, processing and protecting information and about the range of careers in the industry. Quincy School District communications coordinator Jessica Blancas told WIRED the district has organized data center visits for many years at facilities run by companies including Microsoft, Vantage, Yahoo and Sabey, calling Sabey a long-standing partner that offers guest speakers, mock interviews and internship opportunities, plus all-girls visits and tours for students heading into fields like construction or engineering. Manson School District and Sabey did not respond. Amazon hosted a field trip last February at its Arlington, Virginia "Skills Center", a free community space open to any high school in the DC metro area; only Jackson-Reed High School attended.

Alex Molnar, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center, told WIRED that for over a century industries with an image problem, among them fast food, tobacco, and oil and gas, have brought their messaging to schools. A big reason, he says, is corporate propaganda, aimed not necessarily at selling a product but at telling the company's story. He questions what is in it for kids: "Why would a third grader be interested in a data center?" In his description, a visit means miles of boring equipment, rows of servers generating heat, some noise and few people. He believes such corporate influence shouldn't be allowed because children are in an absolutely powerless position and need to be protected by their school districts and communities. Adults can assess what they hear, he says; "None of that is true of children."

WIRED places the trips in a fraught climate. A Pew Research poll conducted over the summer found about half of the 10,000 Americans surveyed see data centers as mostly bad for the environment and quality of life, and an ideologically diverse cohort is rallying against them. In some places, negative sentiment has been amplified by proximity to local schools. WIRED frames the outreach as a way to keep a social license to operate, following a playbook used by oil and gas (sponsoring university research and K-12 STEM programs) and the tech world (funding STEM and in-school coding programs, and lobbying to make computer science count as a science credit). Fossil fuel companies have also spent millions of dollars on K-12 lessons with pro-industry talking points, particularly in Oklahoma and Texas.

The column closes with side items: Meta's Muse AI agent responded to a WIRED reporter's sexting prompt, and Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts said Muse is an app for people 18 and over; a protester interrupted a Maine Senate debate between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson over data centers; CoreWeave's data center bonds saw a selloff and Bloomberg reports its founders have sold $3.3 billion in stock since the IPO; and Westfield, Massachusetts, killed a $3 billion data center project, per boston.com.

Key facts

  • AFCOM's Potomac chapter sponsored Memorial Day-themed flag-making kits for 3,100 first graders across 37 schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, each with a card on the data center industry's positive local economic impact.
  • WIRED's tally of public blogs and social posts found at least eleven companies and industry groups have hosted student field trips to local data centers since 2025.
  • 7x24 Exchange International recommends the children's story "What is a Data Center?" and runs "International Data Center Day", urging people to pitch it to school administrators.
  • Alex Molnar of the National Education Policy Center compares the outreach to fast food, tobacco, and oil and gas, and says children are in an absolutely powerless position.
  • A Pew Research poll over the summer found about half of 10,000 Americans surveyed see data centers as mostly bad for the environment and quality of life.

Why it matters

Data centers are a central issue of this midterm season, and public opinion is turning: about half of the 10,000 Americans in a summer Pew poll see them as mostly bad for the environment and quality of life. WIRED's point is that the industry is adding a softer tool to lobbying, job programs and tax breaks, aimed at children and schools. It places this in a long line of image-repair efforts by fast food, tobacco, and oil and gas, and notes that in some places opposition has been sharpened by data centers' closeness to schools.

Who it affects

Students and school districts are the direct targets: first graders in Loudoun County, high schoolers in Washington State (Eastmont, Manson, Quincy), Fridley High School in Minnesota, and Jackson-Reed High School in the DC area. Communities near data centers are affected indirectly, since WIRED describes the outreach as a way to maintain a social license to operate. The industry groups and companies named include 7x24 Exchange, AFCOM's Potomac chapter, Sabey, Cummins and Amazon.

How to use it

This is a reporting piece, not a product. For school administrators, the practical point is what is on offer: 7x24 Exchange's International Data Center Day kit includes a crossword and training-program information for high schools, and coloring pages, an evaporation-themed science project and drawing activities for elementary schools. The nonprofit actively encourages people to pitch the day to administrators. Readers weighing such visits can use Molnar's framing: he argues children cannot assess corporate messaging the way adults can and need protection from their districts and communities.

How solid is it

It is a reported column with named sources, specific numbers (3,100 students, 37 schools, seven Sabey data centers) and a Pew poll cited. The field-trip count of at least eleven is WIRED's own tally from public blogs and social media posts, so it is a minimum rather than a full census. 7x24 Exchange, Cummins, Fridley High School, Manson School District and Sabey did not respond to WIRED. Quincy's Jessica Blancas did comment. The view that the outreach is propaganda comes from Molnar; WIRED's own wording is that the industry is "apparently" taking a softer approach.

Risks and caveats

The column does not say any company is paying schools or that any school objected to the trips or materials. It describes a broader pattern rather than evidence of a coordinated campaign. Molnar's picture of a boring, noisy visit with few people is his opinion, not a finding. The AI-generated image on the Manson blog is something WIRED notes about the post; it does not say who made it. Quincy's district says it has organized visits for many years, which suggests some of this activity predates the current backlash. The Meta, Maine debate, CoreWeave and Westfield items in the column are side stories, not part of the school-outreach reporting.

“Why would a third grader be interested in a data center?”

— Alex Molnar, research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center, to WIRED