Keeping your kids home Tuesday?

[Rapunzel]

I may be reading you wrong, but are you saying that we did not have letters to the president when GWB was reelected? Because last year while I was student teaching my whole grade wrote letters to Bush right as the election process was going on. As they were learning the writing process (and let me tell you, indentation is VERY hard for them to grasp!) they wrote letters to Bush, to MLK and other real, alive, deceased and non real people. Bush (or whoever is in charge of letters from schools) sent back a letter with a signed picture of him throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game.

It was rather interesting watching the election process take place inside a school. As a teacher you have to be very careful to have your opinions and keep them to yourself. If we want the kids to think for themselves we have to give them the tools to think for themselves. It was very obvious what each second grade parent thought becuase the kids spouted their parents views. I do not know how it works in the middle or highschools. But I would hope we could teach each child to look at the issues and decide where they stand. Teach them to research, evaluate and make desicions for themselves so when they become voters they vote for what they believe in, not what their teacher, parent, or even president believes in.

That was definitely not my experience in the public school system. I had very, very liberal elementary, middle, and high school teachers - resoundingly so. And, they definitely let us (their students) all know their opinions on all things political. I remember my sixth grade history teacher going on tirades about evil Republicans quite often. LOL

And, I grew up in the heart of Texas.

[L.Jane]

That was definitely not my experience in the public school system. I had very, very liberal elementary, middle, and high school teachers - resoundingly so. And, they definitely let us (their students) all know their opinions on all things political. I remember my sixth grade history teacher going on tirades about evil Republicans quite often. LOL

And, I grew up in the heart of Texas.

That aggravates me. I don't care if where you stand, when you are a teacher in a public school system you have been given the responsibility to teach children to think for themselves and be strong independent future leaders. I think the best teachers never let you know who they vote for, but help you to see all sides of the argument no matter what they believe. Then again, this is my opinion and everyone is allowed their own opinion. I just wouldn't want my children in a classroom where their teacher is telling them how to think and vote, even if it is the same as my ideals. I want them teaching them to think.

[v-girl]

I love homeschooling. It just completely removes me from the mud pit in so many ways.

We'll watch the president if he has something to say that actually impacts us in some manner.

And, yeah, I think given the choice between America's overweight and under-playing children swinging or listening to a speech from a physically and psychologically (as well as economically in most cases) removed politician upon a subject which they will truly most be influenced by parents - I'd choose letting the kids get some much needed physical activity. And, I would totally say that no matter who was president.

ditto
ditto
ditto

Texas is full of big fat weenies who would be slobbering all over themselves if it were GWB but it's not, it's that black man who is too big for his britches so I can assure you, that unless you are going out of your way to find the speech on Tuesday, no one in the SAISD will be seeing it.
Jenn

I nearly died reading this....

[GrayMatterWife]

OK, here's a related story that almost anyone can appreciate:

So they're covering this story on the news this morning. Broward County, FL, a very left-leaning county, is requiring that all children participate. If they fail to show up, or refuse to participate, they will be "punished." The anchor asked a FL Rep commentator: What are your thoughts on this forced participation in the Pres's speech?

His response: "Well, they're very serious about it. I've heard that, if you don't participate, the punishment is that you will be forced to endure a Biden speech." (He was kidding, of course.)

HAHAHAHAHA!!! That makes Obama look totally tolerable!

[mommax3]

I think the whole thing is nuts, but the suggested "lesson plans" that were provided were stupid, too. At my school, showing the speech is left to our discretion, provided that it fits in with our "targets" for today. Since the speech won't teach the kids their parts in the songs we are working on, I won't be showing it, but I imagine they will see it at some point during the day. I don't care if my kids see it.

I don't know why he just doesn't put it on YouTube or something. More kids would pay attention to it that way, anyway (at least middle school and up).

Now I'm curious. I emailed dd's principal to ask if they are showing it.

[Momo]

Stick around Amber... Jenn's our Queen of Zingers!

Quote:
Originally Posted by DCJenn

Texas is full of big fat weenies who would be slobbering all over themselves if it were GWB but it's not, it's that black man who is too big for his britches so I can assure you, that unless you are going out of your way to find the speech on Tuesday, no one in the SAISD will be seeing it.
Jenn

I nearly died reading this....
__________________
Amber

[ladymoreta]

Chiming in late, here... I agree with Abigail. I think the more disturbing part of all of this is the fact that so many citizens truly believe that our own president has some deviant ulterior motive to a run-of-the-mill speech. When so many people distrust our leadership to that extent, there truly is a problem with our system.

True, it is partially caused by TV hosts trying to get ratings, but this distrust has been building for years before President Obama ever considered running for president. It's just sad to me that the leader of our country is actually feared by all of these people.

I can definitely understand the teachers deciding not to show it because it interferes with their lesson plans. And I can understand parents not wanting the class time spent on this - many teachers, unfortunately, do let their own political opinions come through.

But this goes way beyond that. I don't agree with a lot of President Obama's opinions, but I do respect him as a man and as President. I don't think a lot of citizens respect the office of the president anymore. I'm not sure what the solution to that is, but it is really undermining our country's authority figures.

[spotty_dog]

Here's the text of the mass brainwashing endeavor.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResou...SchoolRemarks/

Stick around Amber... Jenn's our Queen of Zingers!

I am starting to see this! Love it

[DCJenn]

Thanks to Richard Nixon.

Those of you who are younger than 40 don't remember how utterly depressing the 1970s were. It was awful. The country was DEPRESSED. Gas lines, out of control inflation, total distrust of the system, etc.

Anyway, the culture really never recovered from the Nixon debacle.

Then Lee Atwater completely changed the way politics is played out in the national arena. He was brilliant but he didn't live long enough to see the genie out of the bottle.

It would be nice to try to remember that OTHER countries have utmost respect for our President. we ought to, too. For example, while I happened to have agreed with the Dixie Chicks about GWB, I'm not sure that broadcasting your displeasure from a concert in Germany is appropriate.

It's sad.

Jenn

[GrayMatterWife]

[QUOTE=DCJenn;442339].

Texas is full of big fat weenies who would be slobbering all over themselves if it were GWB but it's not, it's that black man who is too big for his britches so I can assure you, that unless you are going out of your way to find the speech on Tuesday, no one in the SAISD will be seeing it. /QUOTE]

That's sad that this is the belief.

Why does it always come down to accusing conservatives of being racists? As if it's this understood reality that we object to the situation simply because he's black? As if we all go to private, no-blacks cocktail parties where we talk about how we REALLY feel about black people--those feelings that one doesn't say in a civilized society. Give me a break. It's a horrible, unfounded, yet widely accepted prejudice--that conservatives hate minorities (whether openly or latently).

Now, I am sure that there are weirdos (on both sides of the aisle) who don't like Obama because he's black. Just like there were liberals who didn't like Bush because he was Texan and was...**gasp** one of those stupid, backward, hick born-agains. But, I'd venture to say that most people who don't like Obama's policies don't like them because they'd don't agree with them...not because they think Obama is a black guy who got "too big for his britches". Just like most people (who aren't Maureen Dowd, anyway) who disliked Bush felt that way because they thought the war was wrong, or that he misled the country, or lacked compassion or whatever.

My great hope with the Obama Presidency is that, by the end of it, we will have advanced as a country to the point where it is OK for a white voter to dislike Obama without being presumed to be a racist. That we will all be over the notion of white guilt and (even more so) the practice of white condescension.

[Amiens]

I am chiming in late. I don't have a problem with the President speaking to the kids about staying in school, keeping good grades, setting goals. Those are all very benign things to talk to children about. This isn't the first time the POTUS has spoken to school age children. I clearly remember Reagan and Bush making addresses when I was in school. Our school is watching Pres. Obama's speech as class teams (1st grade team: all three classes, 2nd grade, etc.) The school has decided that politics is a moral and value issue and is leaving it to the families to discuss it with the children.

I am fine with it.

[JaneDoe]

I am chiming in late. I don't have a problem with the President speaking to the kids about staying in school, keeping good grades, setting goals. Those are all very benign things to talk to children about. This isn't the first time the POTUS has spoken to school age children. I clearly remember Reagan and Bush making addresses when I was in school. Our school is watching Pres. Obama's speech as class teams (1st grade team: all three classes, 2nd grade, etc.) The school has decided that politics is a moral and value issue and is leaving it to the families to discuss it with the children.

I am fine with it.

Ditto.