Alot of noise is out there about this broadcast.
Mommas and Pappas are pulling their kids out of school
or declining to let them hear what the leader of the Free World
has to say...
And I've been thinking about this alot.
Why not let the kids listen?
President Obama is gonna talk about
Caring for each other
Getting a good education
building a better nation...
to the future leaders of our country--
our kids.
It has the potential
to make a positive impact.
But knowing kids pretty well,
I imagine most of them are thinking
"Cool, I don't have Math today."
Most are more interested in whom
they might be sitting by
during the broadcast
and hoping it's either their best friend
or a cute classmate.
But here's the thing,
I hope my kids listen
and get a feel for what
Obama has prepared for them.
Because there's gonna be a dialogue
afterwards,
and I want my kids to be able
to participate in that
dialogue.
And they can't do that
if I keep them from
hearing it.
I didn't vote for Obama.
Truth be told here,
I didn't vote for anyone
because none of the candidates
compelled me to give them
my vote.
And I always vote.
But not this last election.
My kids deserve to hear
whatever it is
that Obama has to say
and then come home
and share with me
their thoughts.
And we'll go from there...
What about you? Are your kids gonna listen or not?
I'm with you. This is what I posted in response to someone's angry "not my kids!" status update on FB:
ReplyDeleteI did not vote for President Obama, but he is still the President. I'd like to teach my children that it's possible to disagree and still be respectful.
The link to the speech is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
I didn't find anything too offensive. I'm going to let my kids watch it and then have a good discussion at home afterwards.
This is a question I have asked myself, 'if I still had kids in school would I want them to listen'. My son and I actually had a debate about this very thing. Here is my thought on this.
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to be in on a phone call with Pres. Obama and a million other people, with the topic being Health Care Reform, I wanted to know what he had to say. I listened for 45 minutes to his campaign workers and President Obama and all I got was a lot of campaign speeches telling me how great he is and what he has already accomplished and not a word about his reform policies. 45 minutes of my time wasted, and then I hung up. If that is all he has to offer, I think the kids time could be better spent doing math, reading or even recess, after all, isn't that where we learn to get along with people, to play nice, to obey the rules?
In my mind, he blew it! I was ready to listen and he had nothing new or worthwhile to say.
Roxanne
I'm not sure what all the hub-bub's about either. I didn't vote for him, but now that he is our president we deserve to show him respect and if he has a message for the kids, that's great!
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. My kids will be there. But I kind of agree with you. The kids are going to care more about getting out of class than anything else. . .
ReplyDeleteI admit, I was one of those screamers last week. I let myself get all inflamed after I watched that crazy "I Pledge" video. (What a bunch of crock that was). My daughter heard the "I pledge to be a servant to Barack Obama" and said, "that's crazy!" This morning I read the speech on line and decided that it was ok for her to hear the President's speech so she's going. I have to learn to keep my head about me when everyone else is screaming crazily. It sounds to me like my daughter has more sense maybe than her mama.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. Yes, I think that listening to someone talk about staying in school and working hard and personal responsibility is a good thing. Politics aside, I would love my children to see a role model (the president) talking to them about those kinds of things. My daughter will be watching.
ReplyDeletePS-If it were George Bush, I would let her watch, too...it's not really a partisan thing :)
My daughter-in-law is all up in arms about this speech, mainly because she didn't like that video where a pledge was made to serve Pres. Obama. The end of the video made her very uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteNow that the text is out, my guess is that she'll read it and make a decision. Personally, I would probably have them watch it unless there wa something pretty blatant that I didn't want them to see. And if they were teenagers, I would have them watch it anyway and then discuss it with them.
=)
My girls are in 7th and 5th grade. I am going to let them choose if they want to listen to Obama's speech.I figure that they are old enough to make that decision on their own. I didn't vote for him either. He is our President and we as parents need to be an example to our kids and show Obama some respect. I didn't vote for him and my kids know. I think this is a great time to sit with our kids and have a talk about what Obama has to say.
ReplyDeleteI agree...at times our children need to listen to what's being told to them and then we can discuss what "they" heard. More often than not they will not remember a word that was spoken. Why teach them to abstain from listening. Intead I teach them to listen to reality and make their own mind up.
ReplyDelete@Amy: Thanks for the link and the comment...you're right, we can teach respect by showing it with our appointed leaders.
ReplyDelete@ everyone else: I'm glad to know I keep company with so many open-minded and grounded women!!