For or against

I've heard in the news recently that Obama is soon going to make a broadcast to kids in class soon on the importance of school and has recommended questions for the teachers to ask the children. The questions are more like a reflection on what they saw and it asks how they felt about it. Some argue that this broadcast is a way of Obama "brain washing" children and promoting his "socialist ways". I think the broadcast is a good idea to really motivate students on the importance of school and help those smart ones who are bullied feel better about themselves. Bush  and Reagan did it so why not Obama? Any thoughts?

Is this brainwashing like they did on max headroom with the ads? People died watching those ads!

brainwashing = fearmongering. get real. fear is an effective tool i guess, it seems to work for the RNC and their airbags i mean talking heads i mean puppets.

i think its ok, obama connects with kids, i think its a great idea, might get them more involved. the kids will be all excited becauze everyone is all worked up over it and then it will just be some boring guy talking and talking. anticlimatic haha.

I think all this "socialist" talk is insanity.  He's the president, he's going to do geeky things like deliver public service announcements about how it's important to stay in school.  

There isn't going to be a subliminal message for the kids, and even if there were, I doubt he's as good at delivering one as the advertising people at Coca Cola or Camel cigarettes. 

Your kids are already brainwashed into asking you for all sorts of crap. They are good little capitalists.

Oh, and if you remember back to when you were in school.. try to imagine an assembly where there's a "special message from the president about the importance of school".  How many of you would actually take that seriously and not just be thinking about recess the whole time? 

I personally think that it's ok. I also think that parents who are worried their kids might get new ideas have a couple of choices. Keep your kids home from school or (gasp) discuss the issues with them. If your kid comes home asking why you don't support such and such you tell them "Suzie it's ok to have different views than you parents. It is important that you assess the facts and come to a conclusion yourself. However it is equally important that you understand how you came to that conclusion." At this point you direct them to information on said topic. If your child decides to read and absorb the information and wants to discuss it he or she has earned that  right. If, however, they balk and say "Mom I am not going to read 500 pages on education reform" then you say "Ok, but until then you have not presented me with an opinion backed up by facts. When you do feel free to ask me questions about my views. Until then trust that as your parent I only do what is best for you"

It is very simple talk to your kids. Teach them that it is ok to have different ideas on religion, politics,

This comment has nothing to do with schools- but the healthcare thing.  A coworker had this article stating that the H1N1 vaccine is linked to guillian Barre syndrome and she said " Just one more way Obama is planning to kill us off"  She's a very religious right winger and I'm like WTF does the vaccine have to do with his supposedly death panels- which BTW are already in existence they are called HMO's PPO's and all other major insurance companies telling you what you can and can't have done....  So I go off topic sorry  but it seems to me that the religious right are just going to do and say anything to make Obama the reason for all our countries faults.  It just gets more and more depressing each day. 

As far as staying in school -- I think we should give students more options- espeicailly high schoolers.  When my kids were 16 we let them drop out and get their GED's both got them within 3 months - here in the state of AZ you can drop out of school without parents permission at 16 and take the GED at 16.  Our local schools are a joke - if you aren't a brainiac or a jock you are worthless to them and taking up space.  My youngest was so bored she got into the wrong crowd and we were so happy when she did get out of that influence.  Some kids would be better served being given the option to go into a technical school early on.  Some kids would be better served learning at their own pace in a self learning approach. 

It wasn't until the depression of the 30s that school was made to grade 12 -- used to be 8th grade and you were done and went to work- but because so many family men were without work they decided to expand schools to grade 12 to get those younger kids out of the mix and competition for work.  I'm not saying we start child labor stuff but just the concept of those 4 years of addtional schooling aren't really necessary.  Kids should learn how to teach themselves- those kids who are more academic minded could go onto academic schools while kids who are gifted elsewhere go into schools they will succeed in.

Dude...FOR

I think its crap to say Obama shouldn't speak to school children.  It's propaganda? bull.  He's the president o the United States, he can and should speak to public school kids about the importance of education and his intentions.  If we didn't want him speaking to the public, why the heck did we elect him?  Kids should hear what our president has to say.

It's not like his off spouting religious beliefs.

No such thing as separation of education and state.

EDIT to clarify last statement: PUBLIC education 

I do not understand why people are teaching their children to disrespect and fear the our President. Because this is what they are doing. They are not teaching them to disagree with his particular party line - working hard and having high goals do not belong to one party. Nor is morality party specific.

However, at home, many in my unfortunately rather provincial state that is near the bottom rung of the country academically will be taught that he is not THEIR president and he's not even a REAL American and true Americans would never listen "his type".

President Obama wants to encourage children to work hard and have goals and is using himself as an example of what can happen even if social odds are stacked against you as they were stacked high against him. He worked hard and he held high goals and standards for himself. He wants to tell the kids that they can do it too. This is bad? Only if you are a ditto head.

Moral of the story: There are too many stupid Americans. 

yep.  And Obama is trying to do something about it.  If kids remain ignorant it will be a LONG time before what is broken in our country gets fixed.

I don't see the problem with it, questions or not.  I read them, and they are quite harmless, even before the modifications, so I fail to see the controversy.

I got an email from my school district the other day which indicated:

"It is the tradition of the XXX School District to allow teachers to select supplemental materials to support curriculum objectives. While the President's speech will not be streamed live, Curriculum Administrators and teachers will preview the President's speech to determine the connection to the curriculum."

That seems perfectly reasonable, when I started thinking:  They didn't engage in this much scrutiny when other Presidents broadcast speeches to school children. Why this one?

Eh - if my child's school doesn't show it, I'll bring it up on YouTube and show it to them myself.  

This isn't from America, but sure could be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5Rnb7J3sU

I see nothing wrong with it. When I was in school we had to listen to Reagan and Bush v1.0 yammer about drugs or whatever.  Since when has a "stay in school" type message become controversial?

since those that consider themselves the country's moral supremacists lost the election.

Original Post by jannid:

since those that consider themselves the country's moral supremacists lost the election.

Sigh. Indeed.

He's the freaking President of the United States. He can deliver a "stay in school, kids" message whenever he feels like it.

G.W. Bush did it, a few Democrats protested (but no parents, that I heard of) and Newt Gingrich told them the were out of line. Think Gingrich will be taking to the airwaves to tell parents they're being silly? I disagreed with most of that president's decisions, but he was still the president, and I absolutely supported his ability to go talk to schoolkids.

Whether you voted for Obama or not, whether you like his politics or not - he's the President and deserves some respect. And please, please don't try to convince yourself that there's a hidden message in him telling kids to work hard in school. You'll only start seeing conspiracies under every bush and drive yourself crazy!

Original Post by kriklaf:

 And please, please don't try to convince yourself that there's a hidden message in him telling kids to work hard in school. You'll only start seeing conspiracies under every bush and drive yourself crazy!

Yeah, this is my co worker she is totally convinced he is the anti christ and we are all going to be having the mark of the devil ( chips implanted tattoos or whatever) before too long --- yadda yadda yadda. 

Hmm, what's that? The president encouraging his country's children to stay in school? Good lord, how awful!

Which part of that message is bad for kids to hear exactly?

There are exceptions obviously, as dbackerfan said, some kids just don't do well in school for whatever reason, myself included. But the overall message should be to recieve as much education as possible, whatever source that happens to come from. To arm themselves with as much knowledge as they can. That's the only thing that can give them freedom

For it. :) I support the intention to encourage our youth to stay in school.

He is the President of the United States. The notion of sheltering kids from hearing him speak is ridiculous.

The Right likes to talk about personal responsibility...but when the Prez announces that he'll be talking to students about their personal responsibilities to stay in school and get good grades so they can make a better life, those same folks suddenly dont want their kids hearing about how to take responsibility for their future.

Between boycotting the speech and the recent behavior at healthcare town hall meetings, I think there is a certain segment of society that believes social change comes from shouting down or just tuning out the ideas of their opponents, rather than reasoned debate about the merits of different ideas. The parents who pull their kids out of school on speech day are teaching their kids how to throw an adult version of a temper tantrum when they dont get their way.

Nobody objected when Bush Sr. and Reagan addressed the school children on TV, so why should they object to Obama?  We already know what his message is, as a father involved in his children's lives, and as a person of color.  Doing well in school and planning for a bright future can't be a bad thing.

Original Post by dbackerfan:

Original Post by kriklaf:

 And please, please don't try to convince yourself that there's a hidden message in him telling kids to work hard in school. You'll only start seeing conspiracies under every bush and drive yourself crazy!

Yeah, this is my co worker she is totally convinced he is the anti christ and we are all going to be having the mark of the devil ( chips implanted tattoos or whatever) before too long --- yadda yadda yadda. 

 

Last I heard, Oprah was supposed to be the anti-christ! haha   

I think it's A-OK that Obama is going to speak to the kids - for all the reasons everyone else has already mentioned.