Comments on: Obama Speaks to Schoolchildren … Where’s the Real Local Control?

By: Ed is Watching » Hey, Betcha Didn’t Even Know Obama Addressed Students Yesterday

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:48:02 +0000

[...] last September. Remember the big brouhaha about President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren? I commented on it a few times. To me the big deal was the creepy notes created by the Department of Education [...]

By: Independence Institute: Jon Caldara » Wednesday Wrap-Up

Independence Institute: Jon Caldara » Wednesday Wrap-Up — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:27:00 +0000

[...] Care, Transparency ***Our 5 year old education blogger, little Eddie, made quite a splash with his thoughts on Obama’s speech to school children. It evidently struck a chord with one of the [...]

By: Sheila

Sheila — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:20:54 +0000

“the cultish tone of the original lesson plans. Now that the plans have changed, I don’t think it’s such a big deal anymore.”
***************
It never was a big deal to begin with.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:15:11 +0000

You people are only calling him a Socialist because that’s what you hear from bitter replubicans on TV. If they referred him to as something else, you’d be referring to him as whatever their saying and so on. Half of you’ll probably don’t even no what a Socialist is, you just repeat what to hear by some bitter republican on TV or social network. People hate his proposed healthcare policy, but haven’t even read it, LOL. That’s what happens when the US become to lazy to read like they used to and instead rely on sound bits or something they heard on the streets.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:42:13 +0000

Many of the commenters I think have missed the point by ignoring the original lesson plans that accompanied this announcement. It’s not the President speaking to schoolchildren per se, but the cultish tone of the original lesson plans. Now that the plans have changed, I don’t think it’s such a big deal anymore.

And to all those who seek to draw a parallel with speeches made by Reagan and George H.W. Bush to schoolchildren, first note that these Presidents were political opponents of the NEA — unlike Obama. I think that might explain some of the difference in reaction.

Also, regarding those earlier speeches, does the data exist for anyone to compare how many schools & classrooms actually agreed to air the respective addresses of each President? I think that would be interesting information that would add more substance to the debate.

Many of the commenters also have missed the subtle attempts at humor in the original post here, but I digress….

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:50:15 +0000

Now let me see–”If we don’t agree with what they say, shout them down, don’t let the speak.” Does that sound familiar? “Burn these books, they have a bad word in them” “Block the signal of voice of America, if the people heard it, that would be dangerous”
This is CENSORSHIP, my friends. “Wash their brains by only letting people hear safe things.” Don’t allow the children to think that the president might care about their future. Unless of course that president is named Bush or Reagan. Are we afraid of indoctrinating our children that staying in school or working hard is good for them.
Don’t give in to the thundering babble of a few reactionary media Hitlers- Show that Freedom of Speech applies to everyone, even the president.

By: Joey

Joey — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:46:16 +0000

Ask those who are old enough to vote and WE will gladly TELL you what we think! STOP USING OUR KIDS FOR YOUR POLITICAL AGENDA. THAT GOES FOR ALL POLITICIANS!!!!!

By: Pattie

Pattie — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:22:46 +0000

“What about phonics? Multiplication tables? Science experiments? Learning about our nation’s Founding?” What about history? What about civics? What school DID you go to, that those things weren’t part of your curriculum?

To the above poster: “Superintendents, principals and teachers should not allow an outside force to distrupt their school districts, their schools or their classrooms with unvetted curriculum.” Sorry, but that’s one of the most insane statements I’ve heard yet. Hello. The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS NOT AN OUTSIDE FORCE. He is the head of the country you live in. Oh, and by the way, the same government that FUNDS those schools. The fact that you don’t like him does not lessen his position. And it sure doesn’t make him an “outside force.”

By: Tanya Broussard

Tanya Broussard — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:21:24 +0000

Wow, it is truly amazing to read some of the “reasonings” behind opposing the president speaking to our children. I actually read through all of the comments above to view the arguments for and against President Barack’s speech being shown to school-aged children. I am a school teacher myself, and I wanted to hear and understand both sides of the issue first. Unfortunately, both sides were not fairly represented here.
To use this platform as an excuse to post your own pitiful, racist points of view is intolerable and pathetic. If you truly have an opposition against President Barack speaking to our children, then say so, but use better reasoning that specifically defends your position. Don’t seize this moment as your opportunity to berate any group of people. Your words of hate take up the needed space from those that truly have arguments worth defending.
If your school district has issued the the OPT OUT policy, and the parents still decide to keep their children home because of it, how unfortunate. President Barack’s message is about keeping children in school, not about making excuses for them not to go.
To keep children from not going to school because the parents do not like who was elected as president or because parents don’t like the political views of the president is very sad. Ironically, these actions teach our children the wrong message, not the part about students watching the president give a speech about the importance of education. When we tell our children that they are not going to school because the President of the United States of America will be talking to children, we are telling them that we do not have to respect the man in the position that we have elected. As I tell my students that I teach, we all have the right to disagree with one another, but we owe it to each other to respect one another.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:48:50 +0000

If you substituted “John McCain” for “Barack Obama,” I wonder if these parents would still have a problem with the President of the United States giving the nation’s children a speech that hit the same highlights (study hard, stay in school, et. al)? Good grief, he’s NOT the first president to address the nation’s children. Since the federal gov’t DOES provide funding for schools, it makes sense to me that the gov’t would have some interest in the students it is educating, even if states and districts do have local control, etc. I don’t worship our president, but I really don’t see the problem with my children listening to a msg from him. I’m not so insecure with the way I’m raising them that I can’t let them listen to anyone who I might not agree w/100%. In fact, we often listen to talk radio programs and discuss why or why not we agree w/the host and callers. I want them to learn that it’s OK to listen to someone you don’t agree with, and for them to learn how to formulate and defend their own opinions. I do trust that if a classroom discussion ensued, that their teachers (who are awesome) would lead an age appropriate dialog (although I’m sure there are some that wouldn’t) void of propaganda. Seems like a good mix of local control to me…the president speaks, the teacher (who I know and trust) uses her best judgment to discuss w/the class (or not, maybe they’d just listen and then go to PE?!) and then we would also talk about it at home, and perhaps I would even attend and listen along w/my kids. I really feel like parents are making this a WAY bigger deal than it really is!