Speaking to schoolchildren...

This is a post I wrote for a forum discussion about Obama's upcoming address to schoolchildren and all of the concerned parents threatening to keep their kids out of school. Some of the word choices are in reference to other posts, but I don't think they too hard to figure out.


I find this all to be a little silly. The public schools are funded and run by the government. So why is it so off the wall that the head of the executive branch of the government might want to talk to the kids in the schools? ABOUT schools? He isn't going to tell your kids to go home & tell mommy & daddy to vote for health care reform. He isn't going to tell them to keep abortion legal. He isn't "advancing his agenda."

He is the POTUS. He won the electoral votes and the right to do his best to lead our country. Whether we voted for him or not, we do need to "back him." Not in the sense that we blindly follow or get gassed, as someone so eloquently put it. But also not teaching our children that it is okay to disrespect people they disagree with, especially those in authority. Disagreeing is fine. But respectfully. And respect equals hearing other points of view.

Honestly, those of you who don't want your kids to watch- if you previewed it & found it to be a nice, inspiring speech, would you let your kids watch it? Or would you keep it from them because you don't want them to think positively about him AT ALL?

All other presidents address the nation, speak to schools, etc. My husband & I watched in class as Reagan addressed the nation when the challenger exploded. My husband also went to the White House for a D.A.R.E. graduation in the rose garden- where Bush 1 spoke. On 9/11, George W. Bush was reading to kids in a school. Do you think there were permission slips to "opt out" of that one? No- it was an awesome opportunity to see that the president cared about kids & education. Same thing here. Children need to see their country's government in action. They need to see the president.

Worry about your kids coming home having heard too much about the birds & the bees. Worry about metal detectors or out of date textbooks. But to act like Obama is going to brainwash our kids or try to convert them to future liberals? Have more faith in our president than that. Or at least in your own abilities to teach & shape your children.


And later, after someone said they thought he was "going after the children" because they are the future of our country...

"I believe the children are our future..." :) Except they can't vote. Or contribute money. By the time they will be able to vote, he will not be anywhere near the white house. And they don't have that much sway over those who CAN vote or contribute- you all don't buy everything your child thinks they need from commercials, right? So I have to respectfully disagree when people say that he is gearing up for the next election or pushing his agenda by focusing on elementary school kids.

As a first grade teacher, I actually saw what 6-year-olds understood about politics first hand, during the 2004 elections. In our particular school, most of them came in completely demonizing John Kerry. One little boy told me, "He's a gay and he wants to make us all gay." Nevermind he wasn't even sure what made a person gay or straight. Another little girl, whose parents were Kerry supporters, sat in the back of the room and cried, because she was completely alone in thinking that this man was ok.

How much more frightening must it be, then, to be a 6-year-old and not understand any of this, and now know that this "horrible" person is your president? When I was a kid, no matter who your parents voted for, you thought the president was amazing. You wanted to be just like him when you grew up. Now our country is so polarized, we're teaching our kids that instead of looking up to the president, they should be worried about him. Terrified of what he is going to do to our country. They shouldn't listen to or believe anything he says. Seriously?

We can all have our opinions. We can all even share them with our kids (although with caution- while I think a previous poster was right, and that they don't fully understand a lot of things, I also think they worry a lot more than we realize.) But when we start telling our children they can skip school or leave a class because we didn't vote for that guy and we don't like what he's going to say... I think we're sending a message to them that is worse than anything he might mention in his speech.

Another thing: You're right that many people did not "back" Bush. But they were also labeled unamerican and unpatriotic. Heck, there are country music stations here in the south that still won't play the Dixie Chicks. To be clear, I'm not saying anyone here on this thread hates America or any of that nonsense. I'm just saying it works both ways. Many of the people I know who got really angry at Sheryl Crow for example don't think twice about calling Obama "Hitler." It's all disrespectful, it's all divisive, and it's all, well... politics as usual, I suppose.

Bottom line, no, he's not speaking directly to our kids individually. But we are. What will we be telling them?