So Obama has been all over TV this week giving live speeches to the public and to congress...and you know what that means: dispute. The issue about whether his speech on education should be shown in school really caught my attention. For as long as I can remember, religion, politics, and money are three subjects you just don't use as ice-breakers. Separation of church and state is the best thing to ever happen to the South, as it has kept any sort of pressure of religious talk and tactics off of students. In my opinion, politics should be on the same level as religion in school... that is, non-existent. All over the country there were parents e-mailing principals left and right (no pun intended) expressing how they did/did not want their child to see president's address in school. I feel that there was no reason for the speech to be shown in school. Yes, it was about education, and yes, Obama simply stated things along the lines of "stay in school", "graduate on time", and "don't let your failures define you", etc. But really, do I need to hear this from him? All of the advice was obvious and bored me almost as much as if I, being 18 and licensed for over two years, had to sit in driver's education again. Every kid sitting in a school has the general idea that they are there to learn and try their best to do well with hopes of graduating at the end. So why Obama felt the need to broadcast this speech to students and even have teachers revolve their lesson plans for the day around it makes me terribly upset. Many kids now think "I want to do well in school and make good grades and be a Democrat like Obama when I grow up!" As a Libertarian, I see it as unfair that this speech was given by the flag-holder for Democratic politicians and citizens...as if to say that Republicans, Independents, and other parties don't give a damn about education. Even if the entire speech held "non-partisan and unbiased views", every TV was filled with Obama's face preaching these ideas, and with the title of the most powerful Democrat under his name, the bias and partisan efforts appear naturally. And need I remind you that Bush Sr. in 1990 tried to pull off the same type of live, broadcasted speech in schools and Democrats went haywire, refusing to let it happen! And imagine what would happen NOW if John McCain had won the presidential election and tried to present the same speech to kids...I can just see the "No Elephants in Schools" bumper stickers on Priuses now. (Obviously, innocent kids don't even realize these complex policy strategies as much as the white house does.) I just don't get how folks don't find the entire idea kind of scary. If I walked in an elementary school and saw posters with Barack Obama's picture and a caption that read "Stay in school, kids.", the first thought that would pop into my head is "Big Brother much?" and would probably rip it down. It's not that I am against Obama, and he totally is an amazing person that has indeed overcome many obstacles throughout his life to get to where he is. A dedicated and intelligent man...that has nothing to do with me. People have different desires besides following the typical school-routine in the one life they get. Is Obama saying that if a passionate sixteen year-old wanted to start working as an auto-technician his junior year in high school to support his family and forget about college it would be a terrible decision by federal standards? Try telling it to the kid. Everyone has the free will to choose whatever path they want, without the government's advice. What's next, Obama broadcasting a live speech to pre-schoolers telling them to eat their vegetables?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
So Obama has been all over TV this week giving live speeches to the public and to congress...and you know what that means: dispute. The issue about whether his speech on education should be shown in school really caught my attention. For as long as I can remember, religion, politics, and money are three subjects you just don't use as ice-breakers. Separation of church and state is the best thing to ever happen to the South, as it has kept any sort of pressure of religious talk and tactics off of students. In my opinion, politics should be on the same level as religion in school... that is, non-existent. All over the country there were parents e-mailing principals left and right (no pun intended) expressing how they did/did not want their child to see president's address in school. I feel that there was no reason for the speech to be shown in school. Yes, it was about education, and yes, Obama simply stated things along the lines of "stay in school", "graduate on time", and "don't let your failures define you", etc. But really, do I need to hear this from him? All of the advice was obvious and bored me almost as much as if I, being 18 and licensed for over two years, had to sit in driver's education again. Every kid sitting in a school has the general idea that they are there to learn and try their best to do well with hopes of graduating at the end. So why Obama felt the need to broadcast this speech to students and even have teachers revolve their lesson plans for the day around it makes me terribly upset. Many kids now think "I want to do well in school and make good grades and be a Democrat like Obama when I grow up!" As a Libertarian, I see it as unfair that this speech was given by the flag-holder for Democratic politicians and citizens...as if to say that Republicans, Independents, and other parties don't give a damn about education. Even if the entire speech held "non-partisan and unbiased views", every TV was filled with Obama's face preaching these ideas, and with the title of the most powerful Democrat under his name, the bias and partisan efforts appear naturally. And need I remind you that Bush Sr. in 1990 tried to pull off the same type of live, broadcasted speech in schools and Democrats went haywire, refusing to let it happen! And imagine what would happen NOW if John McCain had won the presidential election and tried to present the same speech to kids...I can just see the "No Elephants in Schools" bumper stickers on Priuses now. (Obviously, innocent kids don't even realize these complex policy strategies as much as the white house does.) I just don't get how folks don't find the entire idea kind of scary. If I walked in an elementary school and saw posters with Barack Obama's picture and a caption that read "Stay in school, kids.", the first thought that would pop into my head is "Big Brother much?" and would probably rip it down. It's not that I am against Obama, and he totally is an amazing person that has indeed overcome many obstacles throughout his life to get to where he is. A dedicated and intelligent man...that has nothing to do with me. People have different desires besides following the typical school-routine in the one life they get. Is Obama saying that if a passionate sixteen year-old wanted to start working as an auto-technician his junior year in high school to support his family and forget about college it would be a terrible decision by federal standards? Try telling it to the kid. Everyone has the free will to choose whatever path they want, without the government's advice. What's next, Obama broadcasting a live speech to pre-schoolers telling them to eat their vegetables?
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I really liked the topic of this post, but I think I have to disagree with what you propose as Obama's intentions when saying what he did to students. I think it is highly probable that Obama just wanted to make a sincere remark to students throughout the country. Although I disagree with Obama on several issues including his health care reform plan (unread by many people and senators that had strong opinions about it) I feel like you are looking at his statement to students from a very negative, almost anti-Obama perspective. Not everything the president says has to be about politics. It is indeed possible for a president to be completely sincere about something he says to the public. I have not really followed politics as much since being in college and could be entirely wrong about my opinion on this topic, but either way I really enjoyed reading your blog post. It was very enjoyable in my opinion and I look forward to your future political blog posts.
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