I just want to say that I think anyone who doesn't want their kids to see a speech by the President of the United States about the value of education is CRAZY.
Heaven forbid the President of the United States express his concern for the youth of America. How dare he?! I mean, as a parent, I don't want anyone else telling my kids that education is important! I'm the only one who is allowed to be their role model! After all, you just never know what a sneaky Democrat might say to the youth of America.
I mean, he might say terrible things, like...
"But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude in school. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying."
"I know that sometimes you get that sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star. Chances are you're not going to be any of those things."
"The truth is, being successful is hard."
Yes, I definitely don't want my children to hear those messages--especially from a man who has overcome so much in his life and who, for better or for worse, young people around the nation know and look up to and will listen to.
COME ON PEOPLE...to protest this message?!?
Give me a break.
This reminds me of an article I read this morning about concerned parents driving their children two blocks to school instead of having them walk, all alone. TWO blocks? Really? OK, not totally related, but I wonder, are we so afraid of our own world that we prevent our kids from living in it?
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on that one!!!
ReplyDeleteYou go girl! I agree with you 100%!!! Before the speech had even been given I heard that parents were up in arms about it and that schools weren't going to show it and it made me sick inside. I may not share all of President Obama's political views, but he's a wholesome family man who would NEVER try to brainwash kids! Since when is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES not allowed to address his country's citizens, young or old? People need to get a life!
ReplyDeleteAmen. I think that every school had the few parents who opted out in having their child watch. Lame.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if, because of the publicity-- negative though it was, more people watched it. I know I did!
ReplyDeleteSING IT SISTER! I got all up in arms when I heard people saying they were thinking about pulling their kids out for it. Talk about uneducated. What a fine example for their kids of disrespect.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree... It drove me nuts how people reacted... even after they had the oppertunity to read the speech, some tried to come up with something negative... I heard one woman comment that the speech was too much about Obama, and that's why her kids wouldn't be able to watch it! What a joke!
ReplyDeleteAmen to that sister! My family and I have been talking about this too and how people have been bashing what the President said in his speech. It's very frustrating because everyone wants the best for their kids but no one wants to do anything that requires work for it to happen like teaching them the same things that he said which they should be getting from home in the first place. It just sounds to me like his speech got to some of their consciences...! :-D (I'm off my soap box now :-D)
ReplyDeleteDid you edit this since you first posted it? Seems like there's stuff missing from the first time I read through it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, the speech was great. However, the original speech was canned. He used a different one when he actually spoke. Maybe that's why people were so up in arms about it. I'm not sure. But I'm with you on this one, the Pres. should have a right to speak to students especially on the importance of education just as long as it doesn't take a partisan stance.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts when reading this were similar to your friend, Meg's. I know a lot of the outrage came because of things that ended up being left out of the final speech. I didn't hear much about it after he gave it, so that's probably why it dropped out of the news and conversation. His address on health care the next day took the spotlight. As for the word Democrat being said with poison, I think political parties should be set aside in the interest of paying attention to actual policy being pushed right now in the federal government. I think it's hard for people to separate the man (no matter his humble beginnings) with his politics. He gave a great speech on education. Wonderful. Now lets look at the bigger picture. That's just how I feel about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the fact that the President wants to talk to kids in school, it's the lesson plans from the White House given directly to teachers that had me worried.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to look at the text after the fact and say "C'mon, what's the big deal?" but before parents knew what their children would be exposed to, how can you blame them for being concerned?
Sorry Rachel but I don't agree with you on this one.
Thanks for your response! I love hearing from people on this.
ReplyDeleteThere were no lesson plans. I am a teacher and none were given to me. If they were available, they were merely an idea for teachers and certainly not a requirement. I am not a Democrat, and I don't agree with everything Obama does politically, but I actually developed my own lesson around his speech; I had them choose a quote from the speech and write how it applied personally to their lives. It was awesome to see how my students responded to his message--they shared a lot of their personal struggles and hopes and dreams. To me, this is the same as asking them to read a speech, story, poem, article from any American writer and respond to it--which is what I do every day in my classroom.
I feel like as a nation we've become so very politically polarized that it's sad. Why can't the students of America learn from their leader? That doesn't mean that they are being brainwashed to agree with everything he says and does--it just means that they are being exposed to another person's views and life lessons.
And the idea of parents not wanting their kids to be "exposed" to his message--why not?? Parents are obviously going to have a much deeper impact on their children than any 15 minute speech will. Unfortunately, kids are exposed to far worse influences during their typical school day than a speech by Obama--and yet, most kids turn out okay because of the influence of their loving families. Kids who are raised by wise parents are usually able to sort out truth from nonsense and make their own decisions, regardless of what is presented to them in school, by their friends, or in the media.