Obama's Speech to Students: Education Message or Lopsided Propaganda?

Glorious-
Comments like yours are the exact reason children needed to stay in school today and soak up every ounce of education they can:)

I agree, what is wrong with the President telling our youth to study hard and dream big. A education is a good thing. my daughers are only 3. I did watch the speech and I give the President a A.

God Bless you President Obama.

RCD mentions "teacher bias" in the classroom. She must be talking about Kansas and the idiot creationists. I can't imagine Bush 2 would show up in any classroom as he spent most of his life avoiding them but Bush 1 and Reagan had no hesitation talking to school kids.

SKL believes that "the majority of Americans now oppose the man", ie President Obama. I know of no polls that have shown this to be true. I believe that a re-vote today would elect President Obama again. And I fervently hope that Mr. Obama will be re-elected in 2012. I'm already preparing to vote for Michelle Obama for president in 2016!
Also, comments of others claiming that Obama's administration includes numerous communists is patently absurd!

"The majority of Americans openly oppose the man"? Where are you getting this little tidbit? Sure--his approval ratings are down, but that always happens after a President takes office. We, as Americans are used to demanding the best and we are impatient when our lives are "fixed" immediately. Everyone gets down on the government for being slow and ineffective. However, if you have ever worked for a large corporation you can appreciate the challenges of making things happen in the largest corporation that exists---the government. Regardless the majority of the country does not "openly oppose the man." In fact, when you want to look at a President who was opposed by a gross majority you have to look at Former President George Bush. The numbers don't lie.

The fact that both sides can't focus their energies on policy and stop babysitting/protecting their kids from a harmless and powerful message from the President is absurd.

Do people really think he was going to go into the schools and start selling the healthcare plan?

I didn't agree with President Bush's politics, however I never told my kids to talk negatively about him. This does not make any sense when they can't grasp political issues. Had my children had a chance to hear such a great speech from GW I would have welcomed it just as I welcomed the opportunity to commend John McCain to my kids on his behavior following the outburst during Obama's address to Congress.

Wow, "how can I serve my president?"! What the hell? This is supposed to be a democracy. We don't serve the president, hello! We serve our country! This is a big part of what is wrong with America. Too many people at all levels don't understand what it means to be American. They haven't read the founding documents, they don't understand the separation of powers, their abysmal knowledge of history is almost worse than none at all. This includes teachers and politicians. This is why "concerned parents" need to get more involved their kids' education (and I don't mean helping with homework!).

Screen everything, censor your kids thinking allow them only "creation science" and the Limbaugh hurrah and they may grow up only to learn that the moon is not made of green cheese and disrespect is unwarranted at any time but especially for the President. When they find they were sheltered from the truth, that disrespect will be focused on you, and they will try things to "prove they can" to you when otherwise having learned the truth of diverse opinions early they would be prepared for "peer" pressure and "pusher" pressure. Teach your children to distrust the President with coercive teaching; they will, in the end, know they cannot trust you; you put no faith in them and misled them. Oops.

Neither the president nor the department of Education said anything about "serving" the president. Please reread the article - that was said in a different video done by celebrities independent of any government endorsement. To be honest - aren't people tired of all these over-the-top predictions of horrible doom and gloom now being trotted out every time the president sneezes? For heaven's sake - bypassing parents?? The last time I checked nothing about this speech was mandatory for any child or school.

And there is nothing more "communist" that preventing people from hearing different points of view and deciding for themselves.

Kudos to you for a well written and thought out comment. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am wary of any man who tries to rush anything through. He tried the same thing with his healthcare reform, trying to push it through before the summer recess. My father taught me never to rush into signing or making a deal. When a salesman says "you must sign now or lose a great deal" BE CAUTIOUS! I feel like hes trying to pull one over on us. I work very hard to provide for my family. I put myself through graduate school, and will be paying back my loans for a long time. I believe if you earn it YOU should be the one to keep the bulk of it. NOT the government, NOT some lazy ass who refuses to get off ther duff, and expects everyone to pay for them. (and there are plenty of those around, see medicaid/welfare). Theres nothing wrong with learning a trade if your not the scholastic type. You have to be driven. Not all my friends are doctors or lawyers. Some work in mortgages, some are plumbers, electricians, craftsmen/builders. They have pride and went out and are doing well for themselves. Obama wants to create a country that relies solely on him (ie. govt'). The old addage rigs true: If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime.

He has two children of his own, and him and his wife seem to have done a pretty good job raising them. I don't understand why everyone is so upset if he is telling children to study hard, and make something of themselves. They should be looking up to someone like the President instead of some of these sports people or singers that are going to rehab and doing lots of other things, that I wouldn't want my kids to look up to. Very sad when parents are saying we don't want the President of the United States talking to our kids. What kind of a message are you sending?

Nina: My child is 6. Are you suggesting I just sit back and let the world barrage him? "Go ahead, honey, watch whatever you want on TV. You'll see it eventually anyway!" No. Sorry. The job of a parent is to be aware of what that child is watching/reading/listening to, and act as a filter or help him interpret it. You call it control, I call it being a responsible parent.

Pat: You make some interesting points. First, we don't know what is going to be in the speech, because it has not yet been released. So, although the administration *says* that he's talking about staying in school, we don't really know that, do we? They *said* on Friday, that they were going to be releasing the text of the speech, but so far, it's not available.

Second, I agree that generally, the President of the United States *should* be a better role model for children than sports figures. However, *this* President? Not so much. By his own words, the president has asked us to "judge him by the company he keeps." Well, he surrounds himself with avowed Communists, Marxists and Racists. This is not an appropriate role model for my child. The message that I am sending is this: be critical of your leaders, be critical of those you choose to model for you. Do not simply accept that any person is appropriate to model yourself after, simply because he holds a fancy title.

Third, because Mr. Obama surrounds himself with people who are Communists, I am doubly skeptical of anything he does and says. Addressing children in schools, starting as early as possible, is one of many tools that Communist regimes, throughout history, have used to disseminate propaganda. This is disturbingly close to that. I would be saying differently if, 1) the text of the speech had been available ahead of time, 2) there was no "study guide" provided by the administration - teachers are educated, it is their job to know how to formulate a lesson around a speech, provided they're given the text ahead of time, and 3) this was not (as it originally was) *required viewing*. it is no longer required viewing, this is another point that has been backed away from.


Third,

Aside from the objectionable things that his advisors and mentors have said; aside from the objectionable things that he thought was appropriate for his children to listen to in church every week; he has recently, very publicly, and in words young children can understand, declared that a cop "acted stupidly" (without even knowing the facts) and went on to say in the same breath that this is what happens to blacks day in and day out. Do I trust him to give a wholesome message to school children? Not really. The only thing I can hope for is that he will be restrained by his fear of backlash.

When Bush spoke, there was uproar from the Dem. side. The then Democrat-majority congress even launched an investigation into the administration's use of taxpayer dollars to stage a political event, and complained that he was using the students as "props" for "paid political advertising".

The reason that you don't remember the furor over this is probably because, at that point, you (and I, because I don't remember it, either) weren't embroiled in the political mess - it hadn't spilled over into our lives at that point.

I found an article on it this morning. It can be found here: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/When-Bush-spoke-to-students-Democrats-investigated-held-hearings-57694347.html

Cheers!

LS- The fact that you don't even remember the uproar points out that (if you read your own link!) it was over the funds spent during a time where critical school funds were being cut. It was looked at as a taxpayer funded publicity advertisement for Bush.
The uproar over the current situation is due to the fact of too many fear inspired bloggers and critics fueling propoganda against our "socialist, non-citizen, racist, terrorist, President"....

Give me a break! Our President, Democrat, Republican or other should be able to address our children with a positive message about being accountable and responsible for their future.....isn't THAT what we want from our ELECTED officials?

I have to laugh at the ignorance of those who kept their children out of school today so that our schools can now suffer the loss of funds for the student not being in attendance.