President Obama's Speech to Students - Thoughts?

[Jean-Luc]

Today, President Obama gave a speech to students all across the country. For those of you who haven't seen/read it, the full text is here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

I'm not in any form of school currently, but I was interested in what he had to say for a couple reasons, not the least of which was to discover what the hell the massive controversy has been about.

The speech itself, I thought, was fantastic. Very insightful, says exactly what he needs to say, and isn't afraid to admit to some harsh truths of life. It may not be the most inspiring speech I've heard, but to have a president give this speech to every student attending school is a great thing. Children, whether they be in kindergarten or high school should hear what is expected of them, and they should know equally their impact on society's future.

After reading the speech and analyzing it a bit, I completely fail to see the controversy surrounding it. I've seen many right and leftwingers battling tooth and nail over this speech and the original proposed lesson plan (http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10582301/President-Obama%E2%80%99s-Address-to-Students-Across-America-September-8-2009), and I honestly cannot find anything in either the speech or the plan that should cause a problem.

I've seen several conservatives complain that the very fact that Obama wanted to speak to students was "furthering a socialist agenda," which so far as I'm concerned, is absolute insanity. Even looking at the lesson plan, I cannot find any issue in what was proposed.

Now, according to what I've heard, there was a different lesson plan that had circulated, and has reportedly been changed but I've yet to see any evidence to this. It apparently said something along the lines of "What can you do to help the President." People were up in arms over this, saying that Obama is trying to subvert America's children into following his political agenda.

I dunno ladies and gents. I thought the speech was very well written and was definitely what needed to be said, but let's hear what you guys have to say about it.

Zilla edit:!~

inbeds of the speech always help :P
Part 1:
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Part 2:
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part 3:
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[Jelly]

The vocal minority are able to convince the media that they are the majority pretty easily. People can't be bothered to make signs and form crowds proclaiming their support for each decision that presidents make, but they pretty much always will if they disagree with it.

[Donut]

i went to school today expecting them to play the speech to us on whatever medium. nobody even mentioned it today. not even my psych teacher who is ridiculously conservative. i havent heard it at all.

i can see where the idea of something like this would have people up in arms. kids in grades k through 6 or 7 are pretty impressionable. i can see why some parents wouldnt want obama's agenda pushed on their kids. it seems like by making a speech to everybody at the same time like this obama is trying to sway younger impressionable people to his causes. agree with his ideas or not, i can see why a parent would be upset about that. if you agree with obama's plans and have a valid reason that youve thought out, then good for you. if you dont agree with his plans and have a valid thought out reason why, then again good for you. if youre a kid and you blindly follow these plans because the president came through your speakers and told you to, then i see a problem there. these kids should be taught both sides of the argument and allowed to choose for themselves

on the flip side, i like the fact that obama is finally giving us some answers and speaking out directly. hes letting the american public know what he plans to do and how he plans to do it. i think thats a good thing. whats going to happen if the people dont know what their president is doing? if they dont know they cant speak out. if they cant speak out then he can do whatever he wants and most people wont see the effects until its too late.

i myself sway towards the conservative way of thinking, but im trying to be open minded about the whole thing. however i also just purchased a copy of fable 2 yesterday, so i might not take the time to hear his speech for a while now :p

fake E: was looking for that stick out tongue smiley and i noticed something. somebody (freelancer?) posted a frogout3 emot the other day. perhaps we can add that to our emot list?

[Snowy]

The lesson plan was a bad idea, the speech, I have no problem with.

[Jean-Luc]

:words: I didn't even read the speech yet I commented on it as though I had. :words:

If you HAD read the speech, you would know that neither it nor the lesson plan was pushing any political agenda on anyone. Obama simply wanted to tell students that they need to shape up and work hard, as they're the ones who will decide the future.

It's fine if you didn't think the speech was a good idea, but to base that opinion on something you know absolutely nothing about is a horrible, horrible way to go about things.

[Donut]

hey now im just saying what i think about it based on what i just read in your post and the link you included
E: read the speech, nothing about the political agenda in there. just telling kids to do work. now i see what youre saying about parents being worried about this.
the only part i can even remotely see people getting fussy about is this part

Teachers can build background knowledge about the president of the united states and his speech by reading books about presidents and barack obama
and the only reason i can possibly see for that is that the books revolve around him and his political plans.

[cheezdue]

My school probably didn't even watch this speech.

[Jean-Luc]

hey now im just saying what i think about it based on what i just read in your post and the link you included
And I'm telling you that what you said in your original post had nothing to do with what the speech was saying. There was no political agenda, and if the so called "impressionable kids" are being told to work hard and become better citizens, I fail to see why that should be controversial.

[Dwood]

Couldn't watch even if I wanted to (when it was airing). But hey every single president's done those speeches to kids before. We only care now because it's Obama giving the speech. Not that I'm making any attacks on him or anything, just stating a social quirk.

< /Offtopic>My Grandparents are being pretty Oppressive over how much they hate Obama.... Seriously, for Father's day, they gave all the dads in the family Glenn Beck books. His version of "Common Sense" I believe.

-You're assuming that Obama just got the idea. He didn't. G. W Bush was in giving a similar speech to elementary kids when 9/11 had occured. (I'm pretty sure)

[Donut]

And I'm telling you that what you said in your original post had nothing to do with what the speech was saying. There was no political agenda, and if the so called "impressionable kids" are being told to work hard and become better citizens, I fail to see why that should be controversial.
edited my other post. i dont see why thats controversial either now that iv read it.

[ODX]

We didn't watch it because our sch- sorry, entire District did not want to show it until they knew what he was going to say.

It was almost as if they don't trust the President, and our World Civ teacher was like "It's strictly a speech about how important school is and why you should stay in it, etc. The President isn't like, planning democratic ideas in your head. Certainly back in my school days when Reagan did the same thing, he didn't plant republican ideas into ours. I have no idea if they actually think that or not, but, you guys will get to see a tape of it tomorrow! How exciting!"

She's one of those teachers who you actually pay attention to because it's interesting, but occasionally is a little insane.

[Jean-Luc]

edited my other post. i dont see why thats controversial either now that iv read it.
Thanks for owning up to it. :D

[Terry]

MY THOUGHTS IS THAT THIS IS VERY WRONG THAT HE WOULD BE PEP TALKING OUR STUDENTS.

[PopeAK49]

Half of the dreams kids had suddenly vanished as obama said they won't be able to become MLB, NFL, NBA, etc star. Way to be supportive of a kids dreams in sports. Also I think obama is a Playstation fan because he put down the hammer on Xbox. I think the whole speech was funny to me in some parts.

[SnaFuBAR]

Half of the dreams kids had suddenly vanished as obama said they won't be able to become MLB, NFL, NBA, etc star. Way to be supportive of a kids dreams in sports.

Heh, even in college sports, you're required to keep a certain GPA

[Heathen]

MY THOUGHTS IS THAT THIS IS VERY WRONG THAT HE WOULD BE PEP TALKING OUR STUDENTS.

God forbid someone successful talk to children.

Bush did this shit all the time.

[Jean-Luc]

Half of the dreams kids had suddenly vanished as obama said they won't be able to become MLB, NFL, NBA, etc star. Way to be supportive of a kids dreams in sports. Also I think obama is a Playstation fan because he put down the hammer on Xbox. I think the whole speech was funny to me in some parts.
Where was he destroying anyone's dreams? Obama simply stated that, and I quote, "chances are, you won't be any of those things." Now, while this sounds harsh, put it in context.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.The emphasis here is that these children won't become what they dream without hard work. He isn't trying to tell them they can't be what they want (and the rest of the speech says this), he's telling them that nothing good comes without putting in the effort required.

[paladin]

Oh noes I was indoctrinated...

[Rosco]

Where was he destroying anyone's dreams? Obama simply stated that, and I quote, "chances are, you won't be any of those things." Now, while this sounds harsh, put it in context.
The emphasis here is that these children won't become what they dream without hard work. He isn't trying to tell them they can't be what they want (and the rest of the speech says this), he's telling them that nothing good comes without putting in the effort required.

Well I hope kids understand the speech as much as you do, because it looks almost clearly like he's saying "No. Will not happen." :/

[Aerowyn]

Since when is it abnormal for our elected President to speak to our school-aged children? To encourage them to get a proper education? To ask them to work hard and become the well-rounded future of this country?

Honestly, there was never an issue with this before Obama. Hell, on September 11th, wasn't BUSH at a school reading to children and doing pretty much the same thing (albeit on a lesser scale)?

People are freaking out over nothing.

[SnaFuBAR]

Well I hope kids understand the speech as much as you do, because it looks almost clearly like he's saying "No. Will not happen." :/

Looks like they better start paying attention in class and reflecting :allears:

[PopeAK49]

Where was he destroying anyone's dreams? Obama simply stated that, and I quote, "chances are, you won't be any of those things." Now, while this sounds harsh, put it in context.
The emphasis here is that these children won't become what they dream without hard work. He isn't trying to tell them they can't be what they want (and the rest of the speech says this), he's telling them that nothing good comes without putting in the effort required.

K, I wasn't being serious when I posted that. I was just stating moments that were funny to me in the speech. :tinfoil:

Plus I can imagine all the kids who love sports are crying saying. "The meanie president said I probably won't be a NBA star."

[Rosco]

Looks like they better start paying attention in class and reflecting :allears:

For some reason I thought of BlinD's old classes. No offense bro :haw:

[Con]

That was a nice speech, the politicians here never do that sort of thing.

[Jean-Luc]

@pope

Sarcasm rarely translates well over the internet :smith:

[SnaFuBAR]

Well obviously Obama is wrong. There's plenty of little fat kids that can grow up to be linebackers.

[PopeAK49]

So at the end when I said those parts stuck me as funny didn't show any sign of non-seriousness. Intersting. But ya apparently it never works good on the net. Just to let you know a little bit about myself is that over half my posts are not serious. So flip a coin and maybe you will be lucky. :allears:

Edit: LOL at Snafs post.

[Heathen]

Well I hope kids understand the speech as much as you do, because it looks almost clearly like he's saying "No. Will not happen." :/

Lol, well kids don't have down's syndrome around here and my 11 year old cousin understood. lol, and he is pretty retarded.

[paladin]

I actually enjoyed his speech and thought he did a good job. reading the teleprompter, that is :P}

But really, njbo

[UnevenElefant5]

Oh no, what a horrible idea, the leader of our country encouraging our youth to be responsible and stay in school so they can get a good education and be successfull in life.

[Limited]

How the hell is this even slightly contraversial? Do the people who are rejecting it want America to be fully of uninspired lazy idiots?

Great speech, my only bad opinion is it might be too long for smaller children, they can get bored easily.

Everything he said, should be common sense any way, ALL teachers and parents should be telling their children this, but I think its great that Obama is reiterating it.

Its not crushing peoples dreams, unless the people are lazy fucks and if thats the case their dreams need to be crushed. Children need to get their asses into gear and need to know they have to work hard for things.

I wish this kind of speech was given to UK school kids by our leader.

[paladin]

iirc, what sparked the Indoctrination station was the fact that BO is president.
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1825/billthethinker.png

I could be wrong. I have before.

[UnevenElefant5]

I think people got panick because there were some versions out on the internet that were really wierd. I believe one started with the phrase "Dear democrats and other members of the lesser party"
but idk, I might be wrong.

[paladin]

I think its because one Media blew out of proportions and the other Media blew their blowing out of proportion.

[TVTyrant]

Well obviously Obama is wrong. There's plenty of little fat kids that can grow up to be linebackers.
You mean linemen. Linebackers are the tall people in the 180-220 crowd. Linemen can be from shorter in that weight to taller in the 240-320 crowd. Football player sorry.

[EX12693]

Look, I'm a high-school sophmore... so I actually know what's going on. The reason this is controversial is because there was a LESSON PLAN that you were supposed to do after he gave his speech. :v:
Now, I'm not saying I would've voted for Obama, but I think the speech was a good idea. :downs:
Oh, the lesson plan? NO. I saw what we were supposed to do, and I must say that it was VERY biased towards liking the president.:raise:
One question reads: "How would you help the president accomplish his goals for student education?" (or something like that :eng101:).
My point? It's contraversial because there is no option in the lesson plan for disagreeing with Obama. Yep. That's it. :tinfoil:

[SnaFuBAR]

Look, I'm a high-school sophmore... so I actually know what's going on. The reason this is controversial is because there was a LESSON PLAN that you were supposed to do after he gave his speech. :v:
Now, I'm not saying I would've voted for Obama, but I think the speech was a good idea. :downs:
Oh, the lesson plan? NO. I saw what we were supposed to do, and I must say that it was VERY biased towards liking the president.:raise:
One question reads: "How would you help the president accomplish his goals for student education?" (or something like that :eng101:).
My point? It's contraversial because there is no option in the lesson plan for disagreeing with Obama. Yep. That's it. :tinfoil:

Oh christ, we had to do shit like this when I was in school. There's no fucking bias.

[EX12693]

Well, I read a few of the questions... either way, my point still stands.

[SnaFuBAR]

Nobody said that disagreeing with him and helping him find better reform wouldn't be helping him accomplish goals for student education. Your point is invalid.

[n00b1n8R]

How is that question biased? It's about the president as head of the US government, nothing to do with his political affiliation.You could just as well tell him that public healthcare is a horrible idea, as long as you thought it would help him help the country. >_>
Way to read way too much into it.

And jesus christ, why can't we get a PM half as charismatic as that guy, reading that was honestly quite inspirational (and here I am writing about it on a web-forum instead of revising for a physics test vOv), nothing at all like what you'd hear from Kevin-Vanilla-Rudd. :/

[Rook]

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article was tl;dr and i'm falling asleep 3 minutes into part 1. gn!

[Bodzilla]

bout half way through it, wtf are the republicans crying about... i mean jesus christ,
socialism communism??/ wtf is that shit.

[EX12693]

Like I said, it's the fact that there is no option to disagree with Obama in the lesson plan that the Republicans are WTFing about, not the speech. Now, I'm a Republican, but I still think that was actually a very good speech.:downs:
I, however, think that the Republicans are being WAY too politically correct. So, they think it's not a question of HOW you'd help Obama, but that it's a question of whether you'd help him in the first place? Heads-up Republican leaders, you're being idiots!

EDIT: Ya know, now that I think about it, there IS an option for disagreeing... not taking the lesson. So, that means the Republicans would rather complain about the lesson plan then just ignore it? It's not like you HAVE to go to school...

[Jean-Luc]

Actually, those lesson plans were never a requirement. It was the teacher's responsibility to choose whether or not they wanted to go along with it.

[p0lar_bear]

It's not like you HAVE to go to school...

Only after you turn 18.

[PopeAK49]

Have you guys seen idiocracy? Ya, it's going to happen. :realsmug:

Gatorade is the anwser to plantation around the world.

[EX12693]

Wut?

Oh and P0lar, I meant like, for 1 day. Otherwise you should be :allears: or :eng101:... unless you're the occasional :downsdance:

[tj117]

Have you guys seen idiocracy? Ya, it's going to happen. :realsmug:

I had the misfortune of seeing that movie around the time it came out, why the hell is it gaining in popularity so much? It was a piece of shit movie.

Also, never gonna happen.