Obama's plan to speak to schoolchildren ignites furor in Dallas-Fort Worth

jthomas1600 · 09-08-2009, 07:07 PM

This just in.... Michael Vick speaks at public school. I wonder if the parents had the option to sign their kids out of this speech?

Michael Vick Speaks to School Children - WRCB Channel 3 Chattanooga News, Weather |

scarlet.starlet · 09-09-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthomas1600

This just in.... Michael Vick speaks at public school. I wonder if the parents had the option to sign their kids out of this speech?

Michael Vick Speaks to School Children - WRCB Channel 3 Chattanooga News, Weather |

"Hey kids, stay in school, get good grades, and your parents might buy you a puppy! Then, you can make money pitting it against your neighbor Billy's puppy!"

**thesteve** · 09-09-2009, 10:16 AM

Sow hat was everyone else's reaction on the speech?

I listened to a few minutes of it. I thought it was a little funny when he told kids to wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of flu. The few minutes I saw and the news reports and reactionary interviews they showed really made all of the hype seem like much ado about nothing.

tlj009 · 09-09-2009, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Sow hat was everyone else's reaction on the speech?

I listened to a few minutes of it. I thought it was a little funny when he told kids to wash their hands frequently to prevent the spread of flu. The few minutes I saw and the news reports and reactionary interviews they showed really made all of the hype seem like much ado about nothing.

I didn't listen to the speech but apparently they heard the concerns and made the appropriate changes. I am glad that they did. It was actually far more than I expected from politicians.

**thesteve** · 09-09-2009, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlj009

I didn't listen to the speech but apparently they heard the concerns and made the appropriate changes. I am glad that they did. It was actually far more than I expected from politicians.

I never really understood the issue with some of the concerns people were raising. One of the ones that was reported here a ton was regarding the suggested, "what would you do to help the president?" assignment. My understanding was that it wasn't mandatory, but was always in the teachers' hands. Some people they interviewed claimed that the essay was a form of indoctrination, but it struck me as more of a creative writing assignment than anything, at least for elementary school students.

I don't know if they changed the content of his speech after all of the criticism, but I just imagined a bunch of parents throwing a fit because their child wrote a class essay that effectively said, "to help the president I'm going to stay in school and try my hardest to get good grades."

scarlet.starlet · 09-09-2009, 10:41 AM

My six year old brother, Alex, came home and, with great excitement, told me that "We nistened to Bwack Obama today!" (his speech impediment is formidable/Bostonian).

I said, "Oh yeah? Did he tell you to be a commie?"

Alex furrowed his brow in confusion. "No. He didn't say dat word. What's dat mean?"

"Never mind, honey. What did the president say?"

"He said get good gwades and do youh homewohk and wash youh hands a LOT!"

"Well that sounds like good advice."

Alex nodded his head. "And he said to wead. Can I wead you a book?"

"You certainly can." And that was that.

tlj009 · 09-09-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

I never really understood the issue with some of the concerns people were raising. One of the ones that was reported here a ton was regarding the suggested, "what would you do to help the president?" assignment. My understanding was that it wasn't mandatory, but was always in the teachers' hands. Some people they interviewed claimed that the essay was a form of indoctrination, but it struck me as more of a creative writing assignment than anything, at least for elementary school students.

I don't know if they changed the content of his speech after all of the criticism, but I just imagined a bunch of parents throwing a fit because their child wrote a class essay that effectively said, "to help the president I'm going to stay in school and try my hardest to get good grades."

I only know what I have read on it. But whatever the criticism was, I am just happy that a politician listened for a change rather just ignoring it or getting in a fight over it.

My issue was more with Obama's description of his speech.

"I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country. So I hope everybody tunes in."

The whole bit about how he wants to improve the system and why it is important to our country seemed to be very political. Like he was pushing his views. But I didn't see that in the transcript that someone posted.

tlj009 · 09-09-2009, 10:45 AM

Quote:

My six year old brother, Alex, came home and, with great excitement, told me that "We nistened to Bwack Obama today!" (his speech impediment is formidable/Bostonian).

I said, "Oh yeah? Did he tell you to be a commie?"

Alex furrowed his brow in confusion. "No. He didn't say dat word. What's dat mean?"

"Never mind, honey. What did the president say?"

"He said get good gwades and do youh homewohk and wash youh hands a LOT!"

"Well that sounds like good advice."

Alex nodded his head. "And he said to wead. Can I wead you a book?"

"You certainly can." And that was that.

I wonder if he heard that from the teacher. I know that I would have been asleep at that age.

jthomas1600 · 09-09-2009, 03:34 PM

Here's what I liked about the speech. Because of his background (single mother -- not rich etc.) I think he is credible when he tells kids they are responsible for their education. Over all I thought it was a good speech. I'm looking forward to posting in another thread in a few hours about tonight's speech.

JerryLove · 09-11-2009, 07:01 PM

So who here protested GWB, GB, and Ronald Reagan's school speeches?

**thesteve** · 09-11-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryLove

So who here protested GWB, GB, and Ronald Reagan's school speeches?

Did GWB make one? In the news they said the last one was GHWB and that it was heavily protested by Democrats.

JerryLove · 09-11-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

Did GWB make one? In the news they said the last one was GHWB and that it was heavily protested by Democrats.

October 1, 1991, from Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington DC

And press-moments in schools are far more common still. Recall that GWB was in an elementery school on 9/11.

**thesteve** · 09-11-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryLove

And press-moments in schools are far more common still. Recall that GWB was in an elementery school on 9/11.

Right, but I think there's a difference between a press appearance in a school and addressing every student in the US.

JerryLove · 09-11-2009, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

Right, but I think there's a difference between a press appeatance in a school and addressing every student in the US.

Debateable. But such "every student" addresses were, as I mentioned, done by GWB, GB, and RR.

**thesteve** · 09-11-2009, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryLove

Debateable. But such "every student" addresses were, as I mentioned, done by GWB, GB, and RR.

I guess no one cared when GWB did it, because the press only compared Obama's speech to GB and RR.