Posts: 7598 |
weirdmom Posted Fri 04 Sep, 2009 3:46 PM |
Obama's speech to children
I have been infuriated since yesterday afternoon when I found out that there are some people who are protesting and threatening to pull their kids out of school because President Obama is going to speak to students about the importance of staying in school.
I tried to imagine if it was Bush or McCain doing this and I think I would have thought well that is a positive message and I can't really criticize him for that.
In fact President Bush (the first one) did address students in 1989 about staying off of drugs and no one raised a fuss.
Edit: And President Reagan addressed about 177 school districts.
It's insanity.
I called my kid's school and it's a teacher by teacher decision. My mom (who teaches 2nd grade in the Houston area) said she got an email saying they want the kids to see it but it needs to connect to a lesson so they are going to tape it so the teachers can use it at a later date. It did acknowledge that some parents objected so part of this plan is to give parents the chance to opt out and they will arrange a different activity for those kids.
And the claims that curriculum they haven't had a chance to review ahead of time are nonsense. First off, I highly doubt 99% of these people have ever asked to review their children's curriculum but more importantly
It IS available for review
And the text of his speech will be released on Monday. |
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weirdmom Posted Fri 04 Sep, 2009 3:47 PM |
| And if I was little and the President spoke to "me" I would think that was so super cool. |
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ricv64 Posted Fri 04 Sep, 2009 4:58 PM |
| i saw a demonstration againt obama the other day and a friend asked them if they were being paid to do it , most said yes |
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fenchurch Posted Fri 04 Sep, 2009 10:42 PM |
"This is something you'd expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein's Iraq."
Seriously? People are reading into this way too much. I think it seems like an nice idea. |
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lindsey22295 Posted Sat 05 Sep, 2009 2:06 AM |
That is ridiculus. I am getting very sick of all the anti-Obama stuff cooked up by just a few right wing lunatics. Grrrr.
Maybe it should be up to the student and not the parent if they want to watch it? Just a thought. |
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Nikki Posted Sat 05 Sep, 2009 5:46 AM |
| It is complete bullshit and makes me sick that some people are raising such a fuss about something so obviously harmless. The Right is so riled up about President Obama's health care plan that they've all gone completely psycho and will do ANYTHING to knock him down at this point, even if it doesn't make any sense. HOW IS TELLING CHILDREN TO STAY IN SCHOOL SOCIALISM? I'm so angry about this. People need to get real. |
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Nikki Posted Sat 05 Sep, 2009 5:50 AM |
Oops! Double post.
Look! It's Pillow Kitty!
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moominbadger Posted Sun 06 Sep, 2009 7:14 PM |
| Um, I'm a bit simple and might be missing the point on this one but why are people getting so arsey because Obama wants to speak to students and encourage them to stay in school? I don't get it. Somebody please explain! |
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weirdmom Posted Sun 06 Sep, 2009 9:10 PM |
moominbadger wrote: Um, I'm a bit simple and might be missing the point on this one but why are people getting so arsey because Obama wants to speak to students and encourage them to stay in school? I don't get it. Somebody please explain!
You aren't missing anything. People are getting arsey because they are mad he won and he can't do anything right, even speak to children about staying in school, without them being hateful and utterly absurd. |
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the boy with a cryptic name Posted Sun 06 Sep, 2009 10:43 PM |
Are there genuinely people out there who object to Obama's message or are they just trying to kick up a fuss?
So in summary, we have Obama here trying to connect with kids and to give them an important message in a mature way, showing he respects their choices but that he as a positive role model can give them guidance.
On the other side we have the dissenting parents who are hearing something they don't want to, turning their backs, putting their fingers in their ears and shouting "la la la la la la la la la" to try to undermine the authority.
Who here are the kids and who are the ones who need to be told in no uncertain terms what bloody stupid brats they're being? |
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I Came in Through the Bathroom Window Posted Sun 06 Sep, 2009 11:16 PM |
It's ridiculous, really. But I think it's funny that the Democrats stated the same arguments when it was Bush father who intended to do this.
Quote: Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer said in a statement he was "absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama's socialist ideology."
LOL. These people have never seen a socialist in their lives. |
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SamuraiSandy Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 2:46 AM |
moominbadger wrote: Um, I'm a bit simple and might be missing the point on this one but why are people getting so arsey because Obama wants to speak to students and encourage them to stay in school? I don't get it. Somebody please explain!
Basically, the Department of Education had distributed some lesson plans to schools to accompany the speech. It was to help teachers discuss the speech with their students. However, one of the questions was "poorly" written, and involved the students writing to the president about how they can help him meet his education goals. But, a lot of people for some reason, thought this was part of some "socialist agenda." It's pretty ridiculous. They have since changed that particular part of the lesson plan to have students write about their own educational goals.
(The goal that he was trying to reach, by the way, was to have the highest % of college graduates by 2020. How that is socialistic, I have no idea.)
Ugh...this whole thing is so stupid. I think a lot of people don't even know what the speech is about. They just hear other people complaining, saying stupid things and they just chime in not knowing what they are even talking about. A lot of people with a little bit of information is dangerous. |
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Meridith Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 4:55 AM |
SamuraiSandy wrote:
Ugh...this whole thing is so stupid. I think a lot of people don't even know what the speech is about. They just hear other people complaining, saying stupid things and they just chime in not knowing what they are even talking about. A lot of people with a little bit of information is dangerous.
I agree...I'm kind of slack-jawed about the whole thing. It's all so asinine. I just don't understand how encouraging kids to stay in school is so evil. I mean really? |
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carlottarocks Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 2:05 PM |
| Didn't you guys know that it will be filled with subliminal messages?! |
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weirdmom Posted Mon 07 Sep, 2009 2:37 PM |
I Came in Through the Bathroom Window wrote:
LOL. These people have never seen a socialist in their lives.
Exactly. Why being a Democrat suddenly equals being a socialist would be hilarious thing to mock if they weren't being so hateful about it.
And I don't think socialism is inherently wrong and evil anyway.
It'll be a relief when the speech is over so they can find something else to yell about.
Our children's principal sent home a note explaining why they wouldn't be showing it. Basically it doesn't relate to the curriculum enough and she went on about how "isn't it great that technology makes it possible for parents to show their children the speech if they choose to do so?"
Brian and I both felt like her decision had nothing to do with the curriculum and totally to do with the fact that she couldn't take the heat. And putting it back on the parents is part pandering to the nuts who think they need to protect their kids from the big bad wolf and part totally passive aggressive towards parents who feel it should be shown to the school as a whole.
But bottom line: my kids will definitely watch this speech. Clearly a lot of it will go over their heads but it's the principle of the matter to me.
Oh and Catherine's Kindergarten teacher emailed (before this letter came home) saying she couldn't show it because it didn't relate enough to her Tuesday lesson plan. We were up there Friday and she told me in person she really wanted to show it and was so frustrated by all the drama around a simple speech.
Aidan's teacher emailed (also before the letter) and said he would show it but we was going to be gone that day and it wasn't in the plan for the substitute. Also Aidan's class is at lunch during the time it'll air live. But he said he plans to incorporate ideas from the speech into future lesson plans and then he will show clips from it throughout the year. So I think he feels as outraged as we do about the whole thing and is trying to tread the line carefully. |
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