What is the big deal about the President of the United States’ intended internet address to school children this week? What makes it different than presidents who have addressed kids in the past? Why are parents getting so emotional over the intended address?
I sure don’t want Obama preaching to my kids on Tuesday, but WHY? Conservatives all over television, radio and internet are saying that it’s about the “lesson plans.” It is, but it’s more. If the Department of Education had provided glossy lesson plans and instructions to make posters about serving Reagan or Bush the teachers would have been screaming, it’s their classroom, their classtime. They would have simply IGNORED the materials.
One of the most disturbing aspects of Tuesday morning’s address is number of school teachers wriggling with anxiety over the opportunity to suspend all that laborious reading and writing, to spend time with their beloved leader and share him, and his teachings, with the young people they influence.
Would teachers be wasting their precious time reading a book to the class G.H.W.Bush suggested they read? I think not. But I’ll lay 20 to your 1, that every library in the U.S. has been emptied of Obama books, and teachers are spending their stipends on them at the bookstore.
The problem is not that Obama wants to encourage kids to be something great, the problem is this is just one more part of the Obama Blitz: the all-out media onslaught to promote OBAMA. Get his face out there, everywhere, and get his message to feel mainstream.
Through my own relentless badgering, the local school which my daughter attends has agreed to provide alternative activities for those children who do not wish to watch the president’s address, or whose parents do not wish them too, and has made the viewing optional for all students.
The staff, of course, now hate me, but I feel honored by the attention. 🙂
They still haven’t forgiven me for forcing the schools to prohibit election materials during the 2004 campaign. I was aghast when I saw teachers and staff walking around the high school wearing Kerry/Edwards buttons, and putting up DNC and Pro-Kerry posters in the hallway and classrooms. They were forced to remove all of it. Heh.
Sometimes it’s just the little things that can make your day.
Tim,
Did you get pissed when GW went to that school in Florida and read “my pet goat” to the school children on 9/11?
How about when President Reagan went to a middle school and spoke of taxes?
No you probably didn’t….because you have no consistency.
AWTim-
Who forced the removal of Kerry Krap? My kids were afraid to wear anything at their HS when we lived in Blackfive Country. Afraid the loons would take it personally and give them bad grades! My Daughter was forced to read Thomas Freidman and hand in a report to a visibly outspoken Obama supporter. The subjection was bad enough for me to go to school and have a fireside chat! ugh. We have alternative activities in our schools as well, in NC.
I confronted the school board about the situation. My oldest daughter was 18, and had been selected as a local delegate to the state Republican Convention. One of her teachers confronted her about it, and she came home very upset and worried about her grades being harmed by her teachers who supported Kerry. She was working hard to keep her GPA up for a scholarship, and suddenly had this one teacher actually berating her in class for her political beliefs.
When the school refused to act of “free speech” grounds, I went to the school board and informed them that they needed to put a stop to the over political displays, because it was creating an unhealthy situation of students afraid to disagree with their teachers.
Finally, I threatened legal action and that’s when they finally caved.
I don’t care what party a teacher or administrator supports, as long as they remain absolutely neutral in the classroom. No posters, no pins, no stickers, etc.
Respects,
wow, my comment waits for a moderator while others go right through…..hmmmm?
Whatever…get over yourself. It’s a snag in the WordPress spam filter. And the Actual owner of blog is away.
Whatever, maybe the spam filter figured out that your post was…..spam? Or it didn’t rise to the level of spam? In each instance, you mentioned one school!! And, there were no poster “suggestions” on what to put up, and no “lesson plans” for the skulls full of mush to absorb. Not at all similar to this mass indoctrination try by the the Friend of Van Jones, who occupies the White House. You’re the one who lacks consistency.
Indeed, as DefendUSA said, get over yourself.
Whatever,
I don’t care if a President wants to physically visit a school. Doesn’t bother me at all.
What bothers me is having a President DEMAND to speak to ALL the nation’s children at the same time, and instructing his Education “Czar” to develop a lesson plan to accompany it.
Writing letters and creating posters to show how the children will support the President and his ideas? Isn’t that just a little too creepy for anyone else? Isn’t that attempting to sway young minds to a political creed absent alternate views? Isn’t it a whole lot like trying to indoctrinate young minds to follow a particular leader, a “Cult of Personality” that will ultimately lead to no good?
I would feel the same way if “W” or “REAGAN” had tried this same crap. Heck, why not just pen a letter to all the schools, and have copies of it handed out to the kids? Why is it so important to constantly be seen on television for this particular president?
Our schools should be teaching about civics, about the greatness of our nation, not be political petri dishes for leftist thugs and communist sympathizers and wannabe banana republic dictators.
respects,
UpNorth….please give me one example where I have lacked consistency.
You have one standard for Republicans and one standard for Democrats….while I have the same standard for all Americans. I have never ever cared about party affiliation…I don’t claim to be conservative nor do I claim to be liberal. I don’t give a shit about either party. I care for my country, and that’s it.
Please tell me…did President George W. Bush or even President Ronald Reagan do anything wrong during his/their presidency? And did you complain about that back then?