President Barack Obama’s attempt to encourage students to take their education seriously has resulted in accusations of propaganda, indoctrination and a sly attempt to endorse his “socialist” agenda.
Today at noon (EDT), Obama will be making a speech at a Virginia high school which will be broadcast across America to any school district that chooses to listen.
This is not the first time a president has addressed school children in a nationally broadcast speech. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan made a speech, broadcast nationwide, addressing the nation’s students. In 1991, President George Bush followed suit, this time addressing school children nationally from a Washington high school.
Yet, Obama’s attempt has been met with fiery opposition — a fire started and stoked by the conservative media.
The president’s visit was announced weeks ago, but it was only on Wednesday morning, when right-wing sites and talk show hosts began berating the visit, that the fervent resistance ensued.
Mark Steyn, a political commentator and Canadian author, compared Obama to Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il on the Rush Limbaugh show on Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
Chris Stigall, the host of radio’s KCMO Morning Show, said, “I wouldn’t let my next-door neighbor talk to my kid alone; I’m sure as hell not letting Barack Obama talk to him alone.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, 21st century technology may be partially to blame for the furor surrounding Obama’s visit. With talk shows and virtually infinite blog opportunities online, protestors’ outcries are easily heard and extremely accessible.
But poor wording is at fault as well. Originally Obama intended on suggesting to students to write letters to themselves about ways the students could “help the president.”
A few misunderstandings and exaggerations later, some conservatives decided that such an assignment was an attempt to make their children political — God forbid.
With their complaints in mind, the suggestion was altered to encouraging them to write letters to themselves on how to “achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”
Despite the revision, there continues to be controversy across the nation, including Arizona.
According to The Arizona Republic, school districts across the state have been ambushed with distressed and passionate calls in opposition as well as in support of the broadcast.
According to The Arizona Republic, Arizona’s largest district, Mesa Public Schools is allowing parents to excuse their children from school if they contact the school first.
Many districts in Arizona will be following Mesa’s example. In the Scottsdale Unified School District, students were sent home with opt-out forms so that parents could decide what they felt was appropriate.
Tempe School District, on the other hand, requires that all students watch the speech with no choice of opt-out forms.
Meanwhile, Prescott Unified School District will not have any students watch the broadcast.
Though the Obama administration insists that watching the speech is merely voluntary, the question remains whether the lesson being taught by parents excusing their children from school is really an acceptable one.
With each opt-out form turned in, one student is learning that they don’t need to understand and listen to opinions they don’t agree with — or their parents don’t agree with. They are not learning to listen to others and form their own informed opinions. Sadly, this shines some light on the issues with which this country relentlessly struggles.
Debates about health care reform and the war on terrorism rage on, bereft of solutions because people on each side of the issue refuse to listen. One can’t learn or expect to be heard if they don’t listen.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a generally conservative paper, some conservatives worry that the tumult initiated by fellow right-wingers over Obama’s school visit may discredit their efforts in other, perhaps more pertinent, topics.
Frank Luntz, a one-time strategist for Republican candidates, suggests that people should try to relax.
Luntz says that conservative critics should “pick (their) battles,” or “at some point the public will stop listening.”
It is pretty absurd that people feel the need to tell their children they shouldn’t listen to the democratically elected person in charge of the country.
Perhaps they should learn to control their misplaced anger and teach themselves, as well as their children, that listening, no matter what side the speaker is on, can only be of benefit in shaping a more informed opinion.
— Rachel Leavitt is a creative
writing junior. She can be reached
at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu
I don't see how having school children read about our President's life, or listen to his books on tape, both of which simply define the struggles of his youth and how they have shaped his intentions, or even write a letter TO the president, are in any way partisan."Where in my statements did I mention that human rights issues DIDN'T occur!? I was asserting that my education differed profoundly from Eric's education. In NO WAY, AT ANY TIME, did I ever mention anything that could be misconstrued as ignorance (and, in the extreme, complete disbelief as to the existence of) historical human rights abuses. Don't wag your preachy little finger at me. I'm well aware of the human rights abuses throughout history and their effects on modern-day America. However, that is not the discussion we are having right now, so kindly check your "race, religion, sexual identity" human rights issues at the door for this topic. You people are, once again, making assumptions on my behalf and you are completely wrong.Moreover, you are once again confusing the topic in regards to the partisan message. This is the third time I've said this today, but there was a partisan message originally intended for today's speech, but it was REDACTED. Meaning, the White House withdrew and deleted the old speech. The current speech is politically innocuous, with a noted exception for pushing children to show interest in "green jobs," but is otherwise ambivalent to the topic.The portions about doing lesson plans and discussions concerning Barack Obama, though... I can understand where parents, especially parents who do not trust the President, would show outright anger at the idea of their children reading "Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope" and "Barack" and pledging their services to a President in writing. The problem is that many parents do not agree with his message, they do not agree with his politics, they don't agree with their children discussing politics in a public school setting (I hear people are starting to bite each other's fingers off in California), and they don't agree with the President circumventing their authority through the Department of Education. The fervent opposition you are seeing is a result of that.And besides... why would the White House need to redact and re-release a toned-down version of this speech before schedule, so parents could review it? Because the original message was inappropriate, partisan, and the lesson plans that accompanied it were flagrantly intended to influence the students' political compasses... not to educate.
Banker, I'm sorry some angry individual called you a white devil and you went to an unfortunate school, but just FYI Human rights abuses, etc. ARE history, and its pretty difficult to explain them without the rest of their surrounding events, so I doubt that was the case.
I don't see how having school children read about our President's life, or listen to his books on tape, both of which simply define the struggles of his youth and how they have shaped his intentions, or even write a letter TO the president, are in any way partisan. Schools have kids do stuff like that all the time, the only difference is that you are aware of this and have platform from which to deem it wrong.
The message of the article is that listening, or experiencing or doing things, despite whether you agree or not, is purely beneficial to your own informed opinion, and parents shouldn't be teaching their children otherwise.
I'd like to think this is just a problem in Arizona public schools, but it is the case in every state. This, not some fairy tale fear about "liberal indoctrination", is the problem with public schools and the biggest embarrassment to our country as it's a shame that college professors have to waste their time teaching you the critical thinking you never received and giving you the other side of the coin.
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