On September 3, my children were sent home with a letter from the Davis School District about the upcoming back-to-school address to students nationwide from President Obama. "The message will be directed at students specifically on the importance of education", the letter reads. It goes on to state "...President Obama will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning". The letter concludes by stating "Administrators of the Davis School District support providing students with the opportunity to view the President's address. However, we also want to provide [parents] with the option to opt out of having your child participate, if you choose."
I would encourage those that have received this letter to stop and think for a moment about what this Presidential address truly is, and what the opportunity represents for our children. Simply put, this is a message from the President of the United States to our children telling them to study hard and take responsibility for their education. Former presidents that include Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush have delivered similar speeches to students in the past. What is wrong with the same message being delivered now?
More importantly, the upcoming address represents an important lesson for our children on government and their future responsibility as a citizen of this nation. Such lessons are badly needed in a time when the only examples of civic duty that children can see include cacophonous outbursts at town hall meetings, angry citizens threatening and shouting at senators and congressional delegates, and protesters unabashedly displaying weapons and hateful propaganda directed at our own government and President. Must parents add to this by teaching our children that it's okay to boycott a message from the President of the United States because we don't agree with him or his politics?
The United States of America is fundamentally based on self-governance and public participation in the democratic process. It used to be the case that philosophical and ideological differences were resolved in politics by engaging in meaningful dialogue to reach a consensus. Given the current political climate, it is deplorable and frankly inexcusable to teach children that participation now includes closing your eyes, covering your ears, and going into the next room when a message from our President is one that we do not wish to hear.
Democracy is our gift to ourselves as a nation, and civic duty is not something that is required only at the voting booth. Civic duty is required of all of us on a daily basis through our actions, our words, and our behavior. It is incumbent upon us as parents to pass this responsibility on to our children in a meaningful, constructive manner. Those parents who sign this letter and withhold their children from participating in this process should be ashamed of themselves and the example they are setting. Those same parents have the most need to hear the message on Tuesday.
Andrew M. Williamson
Layton
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Ignoring presidential address sets bad example
Last Edit: Sep 4 2009 - 11:56am
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Thank you, Governor Herbert
Governor Herbert has come out with a statement today, IN SUPPORT OF OUR CHILDREN! He fully supports students watching President Obama's speech.
In another news source's article, it's mentioned that many of the calls into school districts have come from people who don't even have students in the districts (guess who!) and that there have actually been very few complaints.
So...it seems that Gayle Swastika and her little minions have been very busy making themselves look like a large contingent of angry parents...when all the time, it was just a few Utah valley fussbudgets.
Do it yourself
OK fair is fair – to the right wing conservative that are so freaked out over this tiny issue I have a great idea. Why don't the conservative that are running around screaming the age old platitude “Won't some one please think of the children!†- just do this – make you own video and show it to the kiddlets in school. Sure why not! Just hook up to one of those video places down in Happy Vally (Provo), and make a short video about how bad Obama really is, tell the children all that curd your ranting about to the kids and scare the living “p†out of them and suck the very core of hope and optimistic dream out of them, then they will be like their parents, about as much fun as dry toast. And all us crazy liberals can keep our kids home that day and when it is over our kids will still be ahead of the game and a lot happier. Now it is up to you to make this video and see if you can get Utah schools to show it. And of course you can name it (better yet make the name a contest for the kids). Just don't count on a lot of young Hollywood stars to coming to Utah to make it. OK then - Lights, Camera, Action.
The really (pick one)
The really (pick one) absurd|sad|telling thing about this whole made-up whine-fest is that the *kids don't get it* They're in elementary school for god's sake. This isn't political for them; it's exciting: the president wants to talk to them. About school! At worst they spend an hour away from their fractions (I don't believe for a *moment* that the "this is socialist indoctrination" garbage is the slightest bit honest), and at best they get a little bit inspired to think of how their school makes them better people, more engaged citizens, smarter and more interested young people.Indoctrination? From a sub-one-hour "go get 'em" talk from the President to grade-schoolers? That's just delusional. It's a real low.
general comment
Fortunately, my children are out of the Utah school system now. Two grandchildren are being educated in a Florida Christian school that is based on the type of education I received in the fifties and the other two are being home schooled with that same type of system. In school, none of the four children were ever pushed to succeed or accomplish anything. Underachieving was the goal. The only place I could imagine that let children out to tend brothers and sisters while their parents did Temple work. Off to go hunting, etc. In high school, one child was told that high school grades didn't really matter, but they would have to accomplish in college. It was advice from the principal. Any parent attempting to correct the problems found out quickly that it came back on their children in the classroom. Two did graduate from college and have done very well, in spite of their local education. Although I am an independent voter, our children were always taught to support the president of the United States, no less than their teachers in school. I never made fun of a president until President Bush and it was from the words that came out of his mouth. It was extremely difficult to support a man that couldn't put together a sentence, or told me that I wasn't a patriot because I didn't believe in the Iraq war. But then I rarely voted for the people running for president either. I wrote in names all the way back to Bella Abzug, Sandra Day-O'connor, until this president. I wasn't going to vote for him either until my candidate chose to support this man. I've watched the disrespect that many Utahns have given presidents since 1961. You know it comes from their parents and from their parents friends, and from their affiliations. I always pray that the younger generations will see the impact and change things themselves. An educated workforce is a successful workforce.
More Kool-Aid Please!
Well yea I have to going along with laytonian in her last statement, people that are feeling the agony of constipation due to conservatism will out of reflex convulse out “KOOL-AID!†caused by to much exposer to Sean Hannity and other trash talking conservative shows. But there is one funny sub-text joke that comes with using the phrase Kool-Aid. Utah is the biggest per population buyers of Kool Aid in America. Funny how that works out.
Dear Bart
I'm sure you complained just as loudly when Bush sat in that kindergarten class on 9/11 reading "The Pet Goat" and talked about education.
I hope you complained when Clinton did the same.
Or when George HW Bush did the same.
Or when Ronald Reagan lectured children on education AND the importance of tax cuts.
On November 14, 1988, President Ronald Reagan spoke to school children in a national broadcast. Here's part of what he said: "Today, to a degree never before seen in human history, one nation, the United States, has become the model to be followed and imitated by the rest of the world. But America's world leadership goes well beyond the tide toward democracy. We also find that more countries than ever before are following America's revolutionary economic message of free enterprise, low taxes, and open world trade. These days, whenever I see foreign leaders, they tell me about their plans for reducing taxes, and other economic reforms that they are using, copying what we have done here in our country."
If THAT isn't partisan, what is? OR, is that OK because you'd agree with it?
Obviously, middle-school aged children would be delighted with that rambling speech (and I only quoted a bit of it).
Reagan didn't tell them that HE'D ALREADY RAISED INCOME TAXES.
But in this case, respect for the President of the United States goes far beyond just this one President....and the hatred being sowed by parents now, is going to reflect on future Presidencies.
I'm sorry, but the bigotry here IS obvious. Unless everyone who's protesting now also protested all those other Presidential speeches to the school children. I smell teaparty bandwagon. Last evening on CNN, a young blonde woman was shown sobbing and holding her baby, barely able to speak about "that man" and what he's going to tell children.
You lost ME when you misspelled my name and used the hate-radio "kool aid" [sic] accusation.
....and by the way, Bart. When you DO give your children that lecture about socialism and the welfare state, you DO make sure that you tell all about how their grandma and grandpa are part of it, with their Medicare, Social Security, veteran's benefits, federal employee retirement, federal employee healthcare plan -- and how they should shun all of those "welfare" people. Right?
Well said laytonian!
Well said laytonian – Clear and to the point. I agree with you. There is no harm in teaching children that doing the right thing is a moral action worth pledging to do. This is not any a bigger deal than one wants to make of it, those that learn the positive in Obama video and speech will in the long run benefit from it. Those that make the choice to ignore it will gain only more ignorance.
Latonian, What kind of
Latonian,
What kind of message do the "stay home from school" parents give to their children?
-it's okay to not drink the kool-aid no matter who serves it up
-it's okay to think for yourself
-just because everyone else does it does not mean you have to do it too.
Education IS important, and I don't care if it is a Republican, Democrat or any other party. I don't need the President to take up an hour of valuable education time just to tell my kid the value of education. I do that already. Our own example of getting educated and using that education to succeed is a better message than anything Hollywood star, sports athlete or two-faced politician can give my child. Schools should spend their limited time teaching our children valuable skills (e.g. read, write, math, science, history).
You lost ALL credibility as soon as you played the Race card in your comment, and you solidified your own incompetence with your final comments about how much education right-wing parents will cause their children to miss while "the kids who DO listen to the President and pay attention, may just end up being their supervisors in adulthood."
I have already discussed with my children how our country was founded as a Democratic REPUBLIC, not as a Socialist welfare state and how the welfare dole destroys individuals and nations. I've given them concrete examples from my own life experience. They can listen to the speech or not. It is their own decision.
Thank you, Mr Williamson!
What kind of message do the "stay home from school" parents give to their children?
---It's OK to sluff school if you don't like what's being presented that day?
---I don't want you to learn anything from a black person?
---I don't know what this is all about, but I heard on TV that the President dances with Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher and blinks his eyes in Morse Code which says "KILL GRANDMA"?
I guess it boils down to this: the parents who DO believe that the President's speech is important, will be telling their children that no matter what, their education IS important.
The parents who DO NOT see any value in the speech, are basically telling their children that education is NOT important and that hanging out in front of the television is a better thing to do. Think about it! The right-wing kids will end up with less education, while the kids who DO listen to the President and pay attention, may just end up being their supervisors in adulthood.
Of course, this paranoia is coming from the same people who use the word "intellectual" as a smear against smart people....so I guess this is just part of their "stay stupid and don't make your own decisions" policies?