I have nothing against this teacher, I respect her very much, and enjoy her class quite a bit, but it is ridiculous that I was not allowed to see the elected leader of our country talk to me. It's true that the school district said that the regularly scheduled activities of the day would not be interrupted, but really, what is more important; The president telling us to stay in school and get a good education, or learning for the umpteenth time how to use commas correctly?
Though that was intended to be rhetoric, I will answer the question. Commas are easy to use, and if you don't have it down by the time you're 16 or 17, you're pretty much doomed anyways. How is one to respect what you're trying to teach if you don't allow us to be a part of the outside world? There is more going on than incorrect comma usage among teenagers.
When the clock finally reached the hour, and it was 10, I packed up, and I sat. I tuned out the class. If they won't allow me to have the president tell me that education is important, why should I believe it is? (Well, I am educated and I love learning, but I'm trying to make a point).
I've heard that Obama said that you really can't get anywhere in life without a proper education. Well, here's a news flash for you, Mr. President, you went through school, you got elected president, you worked, you learned, but it doesn't matter. Those who are learning now don't get to hear what you have to say anyways, even if they want to. Which, in the words of my father, is complete bull "pucky."
"Protocol concerning the president’s address to students
September 3, 2009, Department of Communications
At 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time, on Tuesday, September 8, President Barack Obama will deliver a national address to the students of America. During this special address, the president is expected to speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school.
The St. Vrain Valley School District is not interrupting regularly scheduled activities for the broadcast. Some classroom teachers may choose to use the address for curriculum purposes. Teachers incorporating the address in their class will provide parents an opportunity to opt out their student from the activity and receive alternative academic work."
Yes, we could recieve an opt-out for this, if our teachers were deciding to show it. Why not an opt-in? Why were we not allowed to leave the classroom to go listen, and just have to make up any work by the next class?
Admittedly, I am a minority because I am genuinely interested in what the president has to say, and most others would be gleeful to just get out of class, and then spend the time talking to their friends instead of listening to the president.
I feel that I had the right to hear the president speak to us encouragingly taken away from me. While explaining the situation to my sister, she stated, "You're a minor, you don't have any rights." While this is probably more truth than lie, I still feel like they took away the oppurtunity for me to keep up with politics.
Another issue that I had with this whole speech ordeal was how much it got blown out of proportion.
From CNN.com :
"Many conservatives over the past week expressed a fear that the president's address would be used to push a partisan political agenda.
...
'Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me,' suburban Colorado mother Shanneen Barron told CNN Denver affiliate KMGH last week, before the text of the speech was released.
'I'm an American. They are Americans, and I don't feel that's OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.'
...
But Amy Veasley, a parent from the Dallas, Texas, area, said Monday she was surprised by the controversy.
'The president of our country wants to call our students to action. I'm not sure why parents wouldn't want their students to hear out the leader of our country,' she said.
A Baltimore, Maryland, teacher who asked not to be identified bemoaned the fact that the country has 'become so polarized that we believe that our president is an enemy and not our leader.'
In many cases, the president has become an enemy to conservatives. Their perception of him trying to brainwash their children in an 18-minute span in which he did not mention politics, and only encouraged them to go forth and conquer, is ridiculous.
This country has become increasingly paranoid toward itself. In the "Golden Age of America" something like this would not have happened. Though, back then Obama would not have been in office, and if he were he would very quickly fall victim to McCarthyism.
In conclusion, so that this doesn't just turn into an angry rant about the loss of American values, and how we're all in trouble because things aren't the way they used to be, I'm going to wrap-up. I am upset that I didn't get to hear Obama's speech, I am upset at the way the school district handled the situation, and I am upset with the people at my school with the "NObama" and other "Anti-Obama" shirts.
Pretty sure this is my longest blog post, and it was nice. Good to get things off my chest. I want to get this into the eye of the admins somehow, not sure how though.
