Thursday, September 03, 2009

Update on yesterday's post

The White House is rethinking President Obama's address to schoolchildren next week. While the speech was touted as a pro-education and pro-American, many people, including myself, saw it as something a little more ominous. Exactly what kind of education would Pres. O be pushing? This article says that activities such as writing letters on how the kids could help the president would accompany watching the video. I'm not thrilled by the thought of this. I don't want to think about Bud (age 6) thinking of ideas about how to help the commander-in-chief who is trying to push his healthcare reform through in less time than it took him to pick out a dog for his little girls. Obviously it would be more along the lines of recycling and the usual govt education brainwashing topics, but still. The question was NOT, 'think not what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do to help the President'.

Yes, we should help each other.
Yes, a healthy country is a wealthy country.
Yes, we have a responsibility to help people who need it.
But, we do not need it crammed down our throats by an overzealous, under qualified (but probably very intelligent and a nice guy) President. Sorry, that's how I feel about it.

We also need to think just a little about how this type of address would have been received had George W. Bush tried to do it. Would school boards across the country have jumped at the chance to have a day filled with the patriotism and commitment to education that they say this address would have been about? I'm not so sure they would have.

That being said, I like W's education reforms less than I like the idea of O's schoolchildren address. No Child Left Behind?!?! Another blog post, another day...

3 comments:

Rebekah said...

Blogger should have a 'like' button. I agree 100% on everything you just said. I'm planning on homeschooling my kids (hopefully it won't be illegal by then). I'm afraid things are just going to get worse. Oh, and BOO to No Child Left Behind.

Nobody said...

Someday, when I grow up and become a high powered...something. I'm going to hire me a bunch of kids that didn't get left behind. Cuz thems the best kind. They make my public school education look goooooooood.

Becky said...

Making a few more calls to the school and the teachers this afternoon to find out what's going on.
I think that we all need to chose for ourselves and we need to teach our children right and wrong. I just worry that at young ages, we need to be careful that we teach civics and not politics.
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
So tired of all this crap! Greatest country in the world and this is happening!

PS Bush sure did screw stuff up, too!