A bit of Call and Response regarding the Obama speech today.

[Stanchetalarooni]

Are all schools doing this or just our district?
Hudson Middle School will be on a modified schedule on Tuesday, September 8th in order to watch President Obama’s speech on education. If you choose to have your child “opt out” of this activity, please send a hand-written note to the Middle School Main Office no later than 9:00 am on Tuesday morning. The students who are “opting out” will attend a structured study hall to work on school projects and/or homework in the media center during the viewing time. Thank you.

Is it just me, or does this look like shades of Hitler? The President is taking time (to learn valuable information) away from our kids during the school day to speak to those at school who are trying to learn. I think he should move the speech to a weekend or evening so that he might reach those that are not going to school. It looks bad for all parties as it is teaching us to misuse time.

Let me know what you think. Thank you in advance for your input.

Love and peace to all,
Veronica

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More like shades of right wing paranoia. Or racism. Or too much time watching FOX. Take your pick.
Rather than a misuse of time it seems like a nation-wide civics lesson. It's not like he's going to read My Pet Goat.
Have the kids take the day off if it is a problem.
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To all,

Some very nice comments here, except possibly one, who just said we were racist redneck right wingers (but without the alliteration). Glad to see that higher education was not wasted.

Holly had an interesting point. Would I be as concerned if it was a Republican president? Probably not initially, to be honest, but I should be concerned no matter what.

Candy had a similar reaction to mine: "I am not sure what I think at this point. The schools have appearances by special speakers all of the time. If the president really is just encouraging kids about the importance of education, setting goals and achieving goals, I don't have a problem with it. Businesses get motivational speakers all the time.

What is scary to me is that much of this administration is deceptive. It is the unknown about what he will be saying that is unnerving."

If the president follows the script as given below (Thanks Kathy for the info), it could be a great inspiration for school children. And this president may be the best suited to deliver a message like this, for many reasons. So I applaud the effort, if it comes off as stated.

However, there is the potential for a dangerous precedent to be set. If it becomes a commonplace thing for our presidents to address our children directly, what keeps any president now or in the future from using our impressionable children as political footballs to further their own agendas? This is not without precedent in other parts of the world, hence the Hitler reference.

No matter what end of the political spectrum we currently inhabit, this should be our concern. If this president does this, you can be sure that some future president who believes the opposite of this one will do the same. It may not be your ox being gored at this point, but the next time....?

Just thinking...
Chris
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Dear Chris and Veronica, Paranoia about this President giving an inspirational talk on the importance of education is a mole hill compared to the mountainous transgressions of the past administration. Shades of Hitler to me means suspending habeus corpus, starting an illegal war, spying on American citizens, approving torture methods banned by the Geneva Conventions after the Nazi's fell from power, to name some of the most grievous offences of the Bush II era. It was evident that those Hitler-like actions never raised your brow. Perhaps you were busy with other more important concerns at the time.
I am glad that your anxieties have been relieved by some good old fashioned reality testing. I think that those anxieties were created by right wing political propaganda that you initially bought in to in a knee-jerk fashion as I can't believe that you thought up this paranoid hysteria all on your own.
Feel free to distribute my reply to Holly, Candy, Kathy and any others whom you wish to enlighten.
Just thinking outside of the FOX box...
Jim

[ddeclue]

1. That should be speech not "speach"...

:eyes: