Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I'm a parent and a teacher. I would allow Lily to watch any speech by any President about the importance of school and education.
I would gladly show the speech in my class, and then have a discussion on it. Just because there are lesson plans proposed doesn't mean teachers are going to be forced to use them.
I think it's a GREAT thing that the President is taking an interest in the future of our country and showing them that he cares.

Whether or not you voted for him, or agree with his political decisions...I can't see how you can be against this speech.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Sorry I think the whole thing is ridiculous. I wasn't an Obama supporter but I'm horrified that people are so closed minded that they would have their children miss a days worth of education for something so silly. It is the president making a speech about education - not about his politics and even if it WAS politically motivated - so what - use that time to educate your children and have dinner as a family and DISCUSS things and issues your child might have and use it as a family learning experience. Sorry but I have never heard of anything so silly as opting out for a simple presidential message. It honestly isn't even worth debating over. Kids for a LONG time have been listening to the president in school and it didn't do harm.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Like OP's said this is an opportunity for parents to have a discussion with their children about the speech why it was good or not and whether they agree or not. I will never keep my children out of school to miss a learning opportunity and that IMO is what this is.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I don't understand why this is a debate. Why SHOULDN'T kids be able to watch the president speak to them?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I t is a non-issue for many schools because classes don't start until Wednesday, so the students won't even be able to watch it unless they do so at home.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I don't understand what harm can come from our president telling kids to stay in school. I can't believe people are outraged about this and keeping their child out of school for the day because of a presidential speech. Talk about ignorance and fear of what people have to say. The man is our president. Even if you didn't vote for him, as a parent you should teach your child better than if you don't like what someone of authority has to say then just ignore and avoid them. If you don't like Obama or you don't like his speech then talk it over with your child after school. But don't have a kid miss out on school because you are afraid of what the Democrat has to say. That is absurd.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I was in no way an Obama supporter, but I don't see the big deal about his speech. If my kids were school age, they would not be staying home. I don't think teaching children the importance of education is creepy at all.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Not sure who's read this yet so I figured I would post it here:

"Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama's Back to School Event
Staff Writer
2:27 PM MDT, September 7, 2009

1 2 next ARLINGTON, Va - September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone - How's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so its understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, Id fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever Id complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

Related links
President Obama Speech to Schools on Education Vote
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year. Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I've talked about your parents responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.

That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it. And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in. So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college. Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowlings first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

Related links
President Obama Speech to Schools on Education Vote
No ones born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. Its the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before its good enough to hand in. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, its a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. Its about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. "

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I don't understand why any parent would have a problem with this. It is the president of the United States making a speech about education. What is wrong with that??
So, you would keep your kids home from school so they can watch the educational MTV instead of watching the president speak. Now that is really smart!!
I thin it all comes down to politics and the people having a problem with this are really people who are against Obama in the first place.

Message edited 9/7/2009 6:40:47 PM.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Schools waste time on the most idiotic guests... Jump ropers, yo yo experts, circus day, etc, why would 18 minutes make a difference? Our kids are exposed to soooo much crap out there that we don't always monitor or know about. Growing up we watched presidential debates and speeches all the time! What in the world could be the reasoning behind a school not allowing it, and parents being upset by it? This man is leading our country. What the hell could he possibly say that anyone would take offense to????

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Before reading the speech I didn't see what the problem would be. After reading the speech I definitely don't understand what the big deal is. I think that is a great speech. I am pleased that he cares so much about inspiring our young minds. Education is important and he is supporting that. If my children were old enough I would have know problem with them viewing it anywhere.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

i think why some people are leaving their kids at home and think this is a little crazy is bc of the controversy that surround obama....

now, i havent researched anything at all, but i am pretty educated and i read and know what is going on as far as opinions and stuff are concerned.....

the controversy that srrounds obama and what is going on with our country...:

this is a HUGE documentary that a lot of people have watched and supported and REALLY believe that this is where our country is headed....again, i dont really stand anywhere on this at all, but i am just a drop educated about it... bc they think our country will turn into a dictatorship and everything (little signs, like in massachusetts, they are currently on the road to passing a law that says military and police can and will enter your home if there is a pandemic and make sure that you and your family are vaccinated...)---- not for nothing, on this one- where are our rights as citizens on this one? that you can come in to MY home and make sure my 1 and 3 year olds are vaccinated with the swine flu vacc? crazy, right?

in either case, this is copy and pasted....



The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people. The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery. We have reached a critical juncture in the New World Orders plans. Its not about Left or Right: its about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation. Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you. Watch the Obama Deception and learn how: * Obama is continuing the process of transforming America into something that resembles Nazi Germany, with forced National Service, domestic civilian spies, warrantless wiretaps, the destruction of the Second Amendment, FEMA camps and Martial Law. * Obamas handlers are openly announcing the creation of a new Bank of the World that will dominate every nation on earth through carbon taxes and military force. * International bankers purposefully engineered the worldwide financial meltdown to bankrupt the nations of the planet and bring in World Government. * Obama plans to loot the middle class, destroy pensions and federalize the states so that the population is completely dependent on the Central Government. * The Elite are using Obama to pacify the public so they can usher in the North American Union by stealth, launch a new Cold War and continue the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. The information contained in this film is vital to the future of the Republic and to freedom worldwide. President Barack Obama is only the tool of a larger agenda. Until all are made aware, humanity will remain captive to the masters of the New World Order. http://www.obamadeception.net http://www.prisonplanet.com


thats it- i just wanted to shed some light on why people think his speech is a little out there- i think they think he is trying to brainwash the children or something crazy....

thats it....

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I am not an obama supporter nor did I vote for him but I will say I read the speech and I am not bothered or offended. I think some people freaked because they weren't ASKED!! I feel weather you support our president or not you need to have respect and listen diligently and then from there make a choice of weather you agree or disagree. I hope my son will grow up and base his political views on what he feels towards issues he has taken the time to learn about. I don't ever want him to follow in my shoes because I "Said So".

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Well wow.

First off I'd like to state again. I dont care that he *IS* speaking and honestly see no biggie with it. I did have an issue with the agenda in the materials itself.

Also, I actually agree with a few sane points put on here. Well said on a few points but a lot of it is just personal opinion and that THANK GOD we are all still allowed to have.

I think there are extremes on this subject but that will always happen.

I have read the ridiculously long lil speech. Now i ask... would any other prez have provided this? Im not saying im agreeing with the Obama camp or not.

I will say again ANY prez should/could/can speak to the kids.

I wouldn't want MY child in class for this because *I* want to discuss this with her. And frankly I don't care for folks calling that opinion or choice 'ignorant' or 'naive' its my choice as PARENT. Heck its even less of an issue for me to hold my child back from this (if i could) than it is to hold a child back from sex education yet no one blinks at that these days.

As a PARENT I have that right. God knows lately I feel I have so few rights as parent.

I see no "HARM" as it is said over and over here to NOT have a child see it in class but instead at HOME.

Im new at this Mom stuff so tell me how that is seen as so evil? Though I can learn from you guys and I do take what you say into consideration for the future, I will say that I turn off any negative remarks to my ability as a mother, my intelligence or any reference to politics. Positive, constructive opinions are appreciated.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I find it ridiculous that parents would even consider keeping their child home from school for a speech being made by the President. I was so shocked when a GF told me that they sent her son home with a permission slip to watch the speech. It's honestly the most absurd thing I've heard of. I remember all through school teachers showing various documentaries or movies during class or going to an assembly to watch the Challenger shuttle launch - why is the president's speech any different?

The first President Bush gave a similar speech, where he asked students how they can help their country. I wonder if people were all up in arms when he did it.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

I just wanted to add, when I was in 8th grade, the OJ Simpson verdict was read, and we watched it IN SCHOOL. No permission slips, nothing. And no parent ever questioned it. Now I'm not saying I agree with allowing 13 yr. olds to watch that in school, but the parents were never asked and it was never an issue at all. So why would the PRESIDENT speaking about the importance of education and hard work be an issue? Just because they hear it from Obama in school does not mean you can't teach her these things at home as well.

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?

Re: As parents and teachers why has no one comment on the Obama Speech for next week?